A Different Beginning: The Rise of Hiccup
by IntrovertiveNoirette
Summary: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was known to his village as Hiccup the Useless. Knowing he couldn't lift a weapon others would normally wield, he crafted his own and trained himself in how to use them. And then he found a Night Fury that was unknowingly shot down by one of his misfired inventions. Follow Hiccup as he rises up and changes before everyones eyes. T for safety.
1. Everyone Has A Routine

**Hey guys! Jessika here. I've recently been reading and watching a lot of HTTYD and decided that I might write a fanfic that spans the course of the first movie. Now, I understand that this has been done before, but I feel like there should be more options to choose from. Therefore, to see if anyone likes it, I give you the first possible chapter of my How To Train Your Dragon ReWrite! Make sure to read and review, following and favoriting if you enjoyed it.**

 **Just a note: Hiccup is a bit OOC here, but the reason why is explained in this chapter. I'm sorry if it's not to your liking.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing from this franchise. If I did, I would've written myself into the story already.**

* * *

 **A How To Train Your Dragon Story**

 **A Different Beginning: The Rise of Hiccup**

 **Chapter 1: Everyone Has A Routine**

* * *

On Berk, everything was done in routine. Everyone had a list of things they'd do that day, and the same thing would be repeated the next. For example, Hoark the Haggard worked down in the docks with Norjd Ingerman, the father of one of the teens on the island. He would wake in the morning, dine in the Mead Hall, and then go and work at the docks for the day before returning home. Phlegma the Fierce was a botanist, who would wake, dine, and then go out and gather herbs and plants (as well as some extra meat for the tribe), and would purify whatever water had been gathered that day. Even Mildew, the village nutcase, had a list of things he'd do. Although, considering that all he did was yell that people were stealing and messing with his cabbages, that didn't say much.

Everyone had a routine of things they'd do, which included one small toothpick of a Viking. His name was Hiccup. He was a fifteen year old lad and son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans. Every day he'd wake up and eat some bread quietly in his home before heading out to the forge, where he'd craft shields and weapons and the occasional saddle for when someone would get a horse to help tend to their farm crops.

One of the things that were added to his 'routine' was how he always seemed to botch something up. He was quite a clumsy boy and had a habit of messing things up, albeit accidentally. You see, Hiccup lacked the brawn that the other Viking teens his age had, and relied on his large intellect to try and gain the approval of his tribe. One time, he'd managed to anger a yak when he'd invented a machine that would make gathering yak milk easier. There were only two problems with his idea. One, it had given the yak a splinter and two, the yak hadn't been female.

The angry yak had rammed through the stables and had managed to bring it crashing to the ground. No one but the boy in question quite knew why it was angry, but they all figured it was because of the misfit for a Viking that Hiccup was.

Hiccup burned that invention idea in his fireplace later that day.

Despite the laughing and the teasing and being made fun of relentlessly, Hiccup never gave up. He always believed that he would be the greatest Viking ever, no matter what. In order to make up for his inability to hold the normal Viking weapons, like an axe or hammer, he had decided to forge his own weapons and train himself to use them. Before he could do that, he would need a few books on weapons and how to use them.

For that, he'd turned to one of the only teens who hadn't ignored and made fun of him, Fishlegs Ingerman. The heavyset teen loved books and enjoyed attaining knowledge. Hiccup struck a deal with the teen- in exchange for the books he would need (and his silence on the matter), Hiccup would provide him a seat near him at the Chief's Table in the Mead Hall at some point in the future.

Fishlegs, unlike his friends, wasn't naïve. He knew that Hiccup would likely become the chief of their tribe in the future, and he also knew that it would be wise to be on the teens good side. Therefore, he'd handed over the books for what seemed like nothing, and in return would be able to be at the future chief's right hand, as it were.

Hiccup understood what Fishlegs was after, and in all honesty if he ever became chief, Fishlegs likely would become his second in command. The teen, although not very respected at the moment by their peers, was very intelligent in his own right and would be a useful man to have at his side.

After attaining the books, Hiccup had poured over them, deciding what weapons he wanted to craft and what materials he would need. It was then that he'd finally made the firm decision not to tell his father about this. He knew that his father, while very harsh when Hiccup acted up, worried about him, and as much as he wanted to see his son kill one of their resident pests, he didn't believe he was capable of holding a weapon large enough to defeat one. If the elder Haddock knew what Hiccup was doing, he'd either call the lad insane and take away his rights to return to the forge, where he would repair and fix his weapons when he trained too hard, or he'd congratulate him and toss him out into a raid before Hiccup was ready.

So, he kept quiet.

It had been months since then and Hiccup had made his weapons and had settled into a new routine. When the moon reached its peak in the sky, he would go out to his forest hideaway and would train and would return two hours before sunrise. He'd wrap his weapons in a sealskin bag and stash them away in the cove before heading to the village, where he'd sneak back into bed and sleep for two hours. Then he'd wake up at dawn and continue his routine with a simple breakfast and heading to the forge. To everyone around him, nothing had changed. Hiccup continued to be the runt of the tribe who happened to be the son of the chief and good with metal.

The only difference was that he now knew how to use the carried a dagger under his bear skin vest, hidden from sight.

* * *

When Hiccup woke up the next morning, he stared at his bedroom ceiling. _'Berk. Two days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death,'_ he thought when he realized that the room was significantly colder than the night before. His blankets did little to block out the cold, so he made a mental note to take his blankets from his spare bed in the forge. He sighed and stretched out in his bed before getting up, searching for his clothes. He pulled on the wool undershirt before finding and dressing in his usual clothes. When he'd tied the wrists of his tunic to make sure they wouldn't accidentally catch fire in the forge, he left his room, grabbing some bread as he passed the large living area, where the fire was already burning in the fireplace.

As his father would say, one of a chiefs many jobs is to be an icon for his people, and that required being up at the same time as the sun. The fire burning in the fireplace provided the smoke necessary that would show that the Haddock household was up and at 'em- and that others would soon be following.

Hiccup made his way outside, keeping his head down and quietly eating his bread as he avoided running into anything. He looked around while he walked, noticing that Bunthair the Broad was helping with the repairs on her house, which had a large hole in the side of it. Hiccup sighed. _'Located solidly on the meridian of misery.'_ He turned his gaze to the other houses. Berks' buildings were nothing if not sturdy, but compared to their pests, they were nothing. He just wished that the people would listen to him and consider building their houses out of something that was fireproof!

He made it to the forge not too many minutes later, ducking inside and relishing in the warmth it provided. He shucked his fur vest and swapped it out for his apron, which he tied on.

"There ye are, Hiccup. I was wonderin' when ye'd be gracin' me wi' yer presence." That was his master in blacksmithing, Gobber. The man was a meathead with attitude and interchangeable limbs, but Hiccup had a soft spot for him in his heart. After all, he'd been the mans apprentice ever since he was little. Or as the other Vikings would say, 'littler'.

Hiccup smiled lightly and picked up the man's forceps attachment, placing it on the wall with the other attachments. The blond had a tendency to just toss his attachments to the floor when he swapped them out, and Hiccup would always put them back so they could be found later. He didn't mind though. That was just who he was. "I had to bid farewell to the ladies that would miss me when I left," he said jokingly, placing the last of the man's prosthetics on the wall.

"Make sure to bring one by and I'll cook some nice Icelandic cod." Gobber chuckled lightly. He'd always enjoyed at how relaxed Hiccup was around him, letting him see the side that very few people got to see.

Hiccup smiled and shook his head, looking towards Gobber. "So what's on the to-do list today?"

"Well, yer father as'ed me to make him a new axe and shield, and the other teens dropped off their weapons t' be repaired. It seems they've been practicing." Gobber shot Hiccup a look, as if he was saying 'and you should be too'. Hiccup smiled at him lightly. If only he knew. "I need ye t' repair their weapons and get started on tha' shields Boss."

"You got it." Hiccup looked around and located the teens weapons with ease. He knew what weapon they each used. Snotlout Jorgenson, his cousin, favored a mace, which could deal damage from wherever he swung it. Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, the twins, liked to use spears, if only in the hopes that it might cause some damage on the way to the enemy. Fishlegs wielded a hammer, which was good because he had a tendency to drop his weapon at times when he got too excited. At least he couldn't cut off his toes. And finally, Astrid Hofferson, the last of the teens, who wielded a deadly double headed axe. The blonde was a ferocious fighter, who would rather fight and ask questions later. Astrid and Fishlegs were the only two teens Hiccup respected, even if that was partly because neither of them made fun of him.

Hiccup did a once over on the weapons and decided to work on the spears first. Despite those being the most damaged, they were still _spears_. It wouldn't take too long to repair those. He quickly looked them over before getting to work. Noticing that the metal portion of the staff had names engraved, he saved those and scrapped the wood, which was splintered and gouged out in several places. They were years old and could snap like twigs in a real battle at this point. He then found two pieced of wood that had been reinforced with metal and lacquered down until they were smooth. He attached them to the metal handles and buffed and sharpened the blades before attaching them. After doing a few test throws to make sure they worked, he set them aside.

Twins weapons- finished.

He did the same for Fishleg's hammer. Swapping out the wooden handle for a better piece and filing down the stone until it was perfectly ready for use. The filing would take a while if Fishlegs had done it himself, but the perks of being in a forge was the equipment Hiccup was able to use, which was likely why the large teen had brought the weapon to him. He checked the weapon before setting it to the side.

Hiccup then got to work on the last two weapons. As he looked over Snotlout's weapon, he sighed. The metal was dented on several parts of the blade and the wood handle was had been completely neglected of care, which was obvious from how the end of the wooden handle had been broken off. He thought over his options before scrapping the entire weapon, save the grip, and went to the back, finding an identical mace. After swapping out the grips, he sharpened the weapon and tossed it aside.

Now it was time to work on the weapon he'd been waiting for. While he always did his best to repair weapons to the best of his ability (most of the time), he made sure to pay extra special attention to Astrid's. Despite the fact that he knew he had very little chance of getting noticed by the shield maiden, he continued to try, hoping that his extra special care of her weapon would gain her attention. It didn't work, but he continued to try.

He carefully examined her axe and smiled lightly. She obviously cared for her axe. There were only a few chips in the blades of the double sided axe, and the handle had been recently polished. He checked to see if the weapon was blunt and made a note to sharpen it before he got to work. Later, after doing a few test throws, he set it aside.

Hiccup took a deep breath and wiped at his forehead. As much as he preferred the heat of the forge to the frigid air outside, it would often bring him to sweating. At least the teens weapons were finished. He contemplated whether or not to take a break before starting on the boss of his father's new shield before deciding against it. His father wouldn't approve of him taking a break, especially when they hadn't experienced a raid in a while. The man had likely ordered these in preparation.

Instead, Hiccup shucked off his apron and tunic and wool undershirt. He'd been doing this for so long that he didn't need the apron, but continued to wear it out of habit. He took a quick drink and popped some leaves in his mouth to chew on before getting to work on the Boss. The boss was the metal circle in the center of their shields that helped take the brunt of attacks. It helped reinforce the shield and protect the person behind it. Some shields had bosses and other didn't, although most did. He heated the metal necessary and got to work, swinging his hammer. The almost constant bang drowned out all other noise and allowed him to think.

He'd started to time the raids. They happened at least once a week, sometimes twice, and always on a full moon. They would last between twenty minutes to two hours and always happened after midnight. Considering that he was one of the only Vikings awake at that time (and the brightest, mind you), he was likely the only one who'd noticed. He made a mental note to bring the topic up to his father after the next raid, which Hiccup felt would be soon.

Hiccup was pulled out of his thoughts when he realized Gobber was screaming at him. "HICCUP!" The teen looked over at the blacksmith and noticed that the other teens were gathered outside the stall. "You gotta pay attention t' ye customers, lad." Hiccup gave Gobber a light smile and turned to grab a piece of clothe to wipe the sweat from his face when the side of his forearm brushed the hot metal of the boss. He let out a frustrated cry of pain and began hopping around, holding his arm. He dunked it inside a barrel of water.

Gobber paid him no mind. Hiccup had burned himself in the forge plenty of times, so this was a normal occurrence. He returned to the axe he was making for Hiccup's father.

 _'That smarts,'_ Hiccup thought as he removed his arm, looking over the injury before sighing. It would scar. He glanced over at the teens who were still watching him and quickly found the clothe, drying off his arm and patting around the injured area before wiping the sweat from his face. He then grabbed their weapons and walked to the front, setting them down with a grunt. "Sorry for the wait," he said with a smile, separating their weapons. "Here's your weapons."

The twins took their weapons without delay, proceeding to whack each other with the wooden portion of the handle. Hiccup hid his smile as he watched the others retrieve their weapons.

"Do you usually work shirtless?" Hiccup looked at Fishlegs, confused. Then he realized that he'd removed himself of his tunic earlier. His cheeks slowly grew brighter and brighter red as he looked down. His entire torso was visible to the other teens.

"That explained the breeze," he mumbled before he looked up, rubbing the back of his neck from embarrassment. "Sorry. It gets hot working around all the metal." He glanced at Astrid, noticing that she was being silent. She was gazing at him, eyes narrowed. He looked himself up and down. Nothing seemed different. "Is-Is something wrong," he asked.

"I'll say. Since when are you, the toothpick, ripped?" Hiccup jumped in surprise when Snotlout suddenly spoke and looked down. He didn't consider himself ripped. If anything, he was just… physically healthy. His training had done him good in the ways of his physique, but no one knew about his training.

"W-Well, I…"

Hiccup stopped when he heard the familiar 'thump-clunk!' of his oldest friend's footsteps drawing close. An arm was slung over his shoulder and he grunted lightly. "It helps t' work in a forge and work with metal laddie," the Belch answered. "Now, off wit' ye. Hiccup has work t' do."

Hiccup took a deep breath as the teens did as they were ordered. Astrid let her gaze linger on him for a moment before she turned, spinning her axe and testing its weight in her hand as she joined the other teens. "Thanks for that, Gobber. I forgotten I'd taken off my tunic."

"Not t' worry, lad. Anyone wit' have a brain coulda seen tha' you were uncomfortable," Gobber said with a chuckled, pushing the boy back towards his work. "Although, tha' Astrid seemed t' be mighty interested in yer ches' there."

Hiccup blushed brightly and shook his head, placing the plate back on the hot coals to heat it back up. "You don't know what you're talking about." He removed the leaves from his mouth and got fresh ones. The leaves helped to sate his hunger until he could take a proper break. Gobber chewed them all the time, although considering that he was missing a tooth, that probably wasn't a good thing. He still insisted that he'd lost it in a raid when he'd been smacked in the face by the edge of his shield.

"Lad, how much olda' than ye am I?" At Hiccups silence, the man nodded. "Though' so. Listen Hiccup. If ye ever wan' a girlfrien', ye gotta be yerself aroun' more than jus' me."

"That's easy for you to say. Me being me is a clumsy toothpick for a Viking that can cause more trouble standing still than one of those monsters could on a rampage."

"While tha's true, you're not gettin' my point. Stop tryin' so hard t' be somethin' you're not. I saw the real Hiccup in fron' of those teens, and I know tha' if ye just decided t' be the real Hiccup, they'd like ye." Gobber paused as he switched out his hand attatchments. "I've noticed ye're changin' lad." Hiccup looked up with wide eyes. "Somethin' abou' ye is differen'. Has been fer a while now. Yer more serious now and don' ge' nervous as of'en. Ye're still tha' goofy lad though. And naht all of tha' came from the forge," the man added, gesturing to Hiccup's torso.

Hiccup looked away, pursing his lips. He didn't think anyone would notice, but considering how much he was forced to work shirtless, he shouldn't have been surprised. He sighed before looking up, knowing Gobber would keep pushing until he spilled the grains. "You have to promise not to tell my dad." Gobber took in Hiccup's serious expression and nodded. "I… I've been training. With my own weapons."

Gobber smiled brightly. "Tha's great Hiccup! Why wouldn' you wan' to tell Stoick abou' it? I'm sure he'd be proud of ye fer finally gettin' inta the family business!"

Hiccup scoffed. "You're joking, right? Have you ever met my father? He'd sooner take away my weapons than let me fight with them, or he'd throw me into a raid before I'm ready. And at this point, I don't feel like I am." Hiccup ended the conversation right there by picking up the boss with tongs and getting to work on shaping it, a frown firmly on his face.

Gobber sighed softly. As much as he hated to admit it, Hiccup had a point. As much as Stoick wanted his son to kill a dragon and stop living up to his reputation of being a, well, a hiccup, he could be very overprotective at times. He gazed at Hiccup and seeing the firm annoyance in his expression, decided to let the topic drop.

They had work to do.

* * *

 **If you guys liked it, please let me know! I'm already working on the next few chapters, just in case you guys decide that, hey, you want more!**

 **Until next time! Jessika.**


	2. Midnight Meandering

**Hey guys! I've been working super hard to get these done, and I want to make an announcement. I will attempt to make an update to this story every Thursday. That gives me plenty of time to create more chapters if I have a lull in creativity, and you get new material every week. I know it likely isn't as much new material as you all would prefer, but this is better for me.**

 **This chapter is roughly 500 words shorter than the last chapter (which has been updated with edits), but that's okay because the next chapter is longer, as it is the start of the film. As of the moment, this chapter is helping to set things up for later. I hope you all enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: See chapter 1.**

* * *

 **A How To Train Your Dragon Story**

 **A Different Beginning: The Rise of Hiccup**

 **Chapter 2: Midnight Meandering**

* * *

That afternoon, Hiccup rinsed the grime from his body before moving to the back room and working on his designs. Despite his training, he still enjoyed designing contraptions and making them. He was an inventor, after all. Many of them ended in failure, which he'd expected (designs rarely turned out well on the first try), but each failure got him closer and closer to the final result, which was usually a success. Like his weapons. Those were successes. He'd swung his weapons at stone walls to test their durability and was satisfied to see that, despite not scratching the stone, they hadn't gone dull or worst, snapped.

Hiccup sat back in his chair, looking up at the designs he'd pinned to the wall of his workroom. The most prominent one was his recent project, which he'd dubbed the Mangler. He had yet to test it in the field (mostly because Gobber kept catching him trying to sneak out with it) but he had a feeling it would work. It would bring down monsters that were flying out of reach. Despite his training, he'd yet to prefect the art of bola-swinging, and he didn't have the leg strength to jump twenty feet in the air to bring down one of those beasts.

Then again, if he did, he'd likely be considered a freak and shipped off, so he was glad for that.

He sighed and stretched, looking out the window, which overlooked a cliff. Sunset would be soon. He put out the nearby candles and stood, pulling on his vest before leaving the forge. He made his way to the Mead Hall. Despite being able to eat breakfast in the seclusion of his home, he didn't have that luxury for dinner. His father put his foot down and stated, quite bluntly, that Hiccup would eat dinner in the Mead Hall, if only to establish to the others that the heir of the tribe was still up and kicking (whether they liked it or not).

Hiccup sat down to the left of his father at the table after getting a plate of food. He kept silent as he ate, knowing better than to speak to his father until the man initiated conversation. Otherwise, it was like talking to a yak.

"Did Gobber finish my axe and shield today?" Hiccup looked up at his dad, clearing his throat lightly.

He shook his head. "Gobber still needs to finish the head of the axe, but he said it would be done by sometime tomorrow morning."

"Good. I've got a feeling that they'll be coming soon."

Hiccup nodded as his father stood, leaving the hall. He sighed. Their conversations never went on for long, and if they did, it was because Hiccup was being berated. He wished he had a better relationship with his father, but until he killed one of those beasts, that wasn't likely to happen.

The teen quickly finished eating and stood, passing by the teens table on his way to the door. He glanced over at them, curious to see if they would invite him to sit. Sadly, it was for naught. Snotlout was posturing for Astrid, who was blatantly ignoring him, flicking at her chicken as she listened to Ruffnet regale her with the tale of almost slicing off her toes. Tuffnut was rolling his eyes at Snotlout and ignoring Fishlegs, who seemed to be telling the blond male twin about everything he'd recently read.

When none of them looked in his direction, he sighed and turned his head back, heading for the door. Maybe next time.

When Hiccup returned home, he removed his tunic and laid down in his wool undershirt and underpants. He'd forgotten to bring home his blankets from the forge, but his undershirt should've been enough to keep him warm, if only until midnight, where he'd head out to train. In the meantime, he'd get some rest.

* * *

Hiccup let out a soft sigh when his feet impacted the ground, landing in a crouch. His father had been sitting in front of the fire, so he'd had to sneak out his window. Hiccup would have left through the back door, but there was no guarantee that his father wouldn't hear him. He took a careful look around before heading off into the forest, hoping that the cover of night would help hide his movements, as it had countless times before. He made sure to hold his dagger in hand, in case any of the local wolves decided to get hungry for a midnight snack.

He turned here and there, stopping at Raven's Point and turning to head in the direction of the cove. The Viking made twists and turns randomly, not wanting anyone to follow him. The Cove was his secret training grounds, and no one elses. He couldn't help but be possessive of the place- after all, it was one of the only places on Berk where he felt truly safe, and no one made fun of him there.

In all honesty, he'd found it on accident. He'd been wandering the forest in search of a place to be alone and had slipped down a hillside. When he'd gotten to the bottom and hadn't cracked his skull on the huge boulder that sat at the bottom, he'd decided to continue on and see what else was there. After all, he'd never gone far past Raven Point before and was curious on what he might find. So, when he'd stumbled on the Cove, he'd been ecstatic to find that there weren't any signs of anyone else being there.

Hiccup smiled lightly. Finding his Cove had been great for him, as it gave him a place to relax, train, and be himself without anyone laughing at him. It was nice to be away from the villages' ridicule, but he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if people knew what he was doing.

Bah! Hiccup shook his head, ridding himself of the thought. Bad idea. Very bad idea.

He hurried to the cove and shucked himself of his vest as he walked over to the tree his weapons were stashed in. Just above the Cove's edge, there was a large tree that was easily older than the tribe itself. Its roots were as big around as Hiccup's father, and a select few were even a bit wider. Hiccup had stashed his weapons in one of the roots, which had become hollow from age (and the fact that it had never reached the ground to continue to provide for the large behemoth of a tree). He tossed his vest over one of the smaller roots as he emptied out his bag, making sure that nothing had been tampered with.

Hiccup picked up the belt and clipped it to his hip, mentally counting the sheaths on the back and making sure he had all eight. The eight daggers were slightly tilted, so he could reach back and grasp them with ease, removing them from their sheaths when necessary. When he was satisfied, he picked up his largest weapon and the quiver that accompanied it. He walked out to the shooting range he'd set up, which was a simple post set up to hold the quiver that was a bit of a distance from an old tree that had a charcoal target marked into the flesh of its' body. He'd taken his older dagger to it and had scraped it free of bark about a week after discovering the cove, and after sanding it down, he'd had a pretty good landing area for his arrows.

Hiccup lifted his metal bow, which had taken a good two weeks to craft. The special bow was one of a kind, not only from its design, but the material it had been made from. Hiccup had taken some Terrible Terror scales and had melted them down (which had taken much longer than he'd anticipated), mixing them with the metal before he started to actually make the bow. That made it much more flexible, durable, and able to withstand large amounts of heat. His other weapons had been made in a similar way. His daggers had been made from metal that he'd mixed with melted down Gronkle scales, which (while making them slightly heavier) had made them much more durable, able to withstand large amounts of heat, and he'd been able to sharpen them more than normal, so each blade was likely as sharp as a beasts' claw. Each weapon had streaks of color that showed what colors the scales had once been. In the bows case, there were pale green streaks that were barely visible through the metal.

Hiccup lifted his bow and tested the bowstring before nocking an arrow and aiming through the sight. After a moment, he released it, smiling lightly when he saw the arrow bury itself in the tree's flesh. It wasn't centered, but it was almost there, which was good. He took a deep breath and focused, lifting the bow again. He had training to do.

* * *

He sighed softly as he leaned back against one of the large boulders that sat in his Cove, his fur vest having been put back on and his weapons stashed away. He'd worked for a good two hours on his aim with his bow and throwing daggers before he started working on his sword fighting style. Or at least, he would have, had he'd actually crafted his sword.

Hiccup looked down at the open book in his lap, which showed the sword he'd designed in all its glory. As much as he wanted to wield dual swords, he just felt like something was off with the design. Like he was missing something. Since he wouldn't have many chances to craft the swords, especially with his father around, he would have to wait.

It's not that he didn't like the design. If anything, his sword design was his absolute favorite out of all his weapon designs. He just felt like using Gronkle scales would make them too heavy, and Terrible Terror scales wouldn't be all that useful. He had Nightmare scales, but those would take three times longer than normal to melt down (if they did at all), simply for the fact that Nightmares had a tendency to light themselves on fire. If their scales could withstand that much heat, than he didn't want to know how long it would take to melt them down.

Hiccup closed the book, stashing it away inside the inner pocket of his vest before laying back on the ground and gazing up at the stars, a heavy sigh leaving him before he could stop it. There was another problem though.

As much as he hated to admit it, fighting against a tree with his swords wouldn't do a thing to improve his ability with the swords, when he finally had them. Sure, he might be able to take down Snotlout in a fight with them, but he doubted he could take down someone as good as Astrid. So, he'd have to talk to someone who could help him train properly.

The only question was, who could he ask? The twins and Snotlout would laugh right in his face, so that was a no go. That left Fishlegs and Astrid, which brought up another problem.

Simply by associating with him, one or the other would lower their own social status. One didn't speak or associate with Hiccup the Useless unless they were on his status. The only person that didn't apply to was Gobber, who was his father's best friend.

Then again, quite a few people secretly (or not so secretly, depending on your point of view) thought he was a loon. After all, he always claimed that trolls were stealing his socks, but only the left ones. Hiccup decided against telling the one legged Viking that he only had his left foot, and that socks were completely interchangeable, but decided against it. After all, if he believed trolls were stealing his socks, Hiccup wouldn't question it. The time Gobber spent hunting trolls was when Hiccup worked on his secret projects (so long as the man in questions didn't try and make Hiccup join him, which sometimes happened).

Anyway, the point was that the only way someone would be able to help him with his training was if they met in secret, which meant he'd have to let them in on his sneaking habits and let them use his cove.

Hiccup rubbed at his eyes and sighed. It was getting late- or rather, early. He needed to be heading back to the house. He could contemplate this dilemma later in the day, when he was one hundred percent lucid.

He stood up and flipped the dagger in his hold, placing it in the small sheath that sat next to the other seven under his vest, where they were hidden from sight. As it was, every one of his weapons had no designs or markings that showed they were at all Viking. Tomorrow, if there wasn't much to do, he'd see if Gobber would let him work on carving the markings. It would be tedious and difficult, especially since the Gronkle scales made them much sturdier, but Hiccup believed it would be worth it.

Hiccup made it back to the village not much later and hurried to his house, sneaking in through the back door and heading up to his room. It was times like this where he was grateful that his dad was such a heavy sleeper. If he wasn't, Hiccup was sure he would've been caught already.

The young Viking looked out the window and took note of the time before removing himself of his vest, boots, and tunic and dropping himself down into bed. He could get another hour or two before he was due at the smithy. Hiccup closed his eyes…

-And opened them what seemed like seconds later. What was that roaring?

'-iccup! Hiccup, wake up! The sun's been up for an hour now!"

His dad!

Hiccup vaulted out of bed, dressing himself quickly, making a note to bathe at the cove later that day. He was starting to smell. After washing his mouth and placing his dirty clothes in the bin that he'd take down to the handmaidens later, he rushed downstairs, the curved pommel of daggers brushing against his back lightly.

His father looked mildly irritated. "You should've been down at the forge at dawn. Get going," the chief ordered.

Hiccup nodded, wanting to kick himself in the tail. He was out the door and halfway down the hill within seconds. _'Gobber's gonna be furious with me,'_ he thought to himself, jumping around Fishlegs when he'd almost barreled into the large teen. "Sorry," he called over his shoulder, trying to avoid almost running into someone else.

In all honesty, he must've made quite the sight. He was running through the village at high speeds, looking as if he was running away from something, which was something he hadn't done for a while now (mostly due to a deal he'd struck with Gobber about staying inside).

Hiccup skidded to a stop outside the forge and ran a hand over his face before he entered, finding Gobber immediately. "Sorry I'm late. I overslept."

"Naht t' worry, lad. There's naht much on tha list t'day." Gobber grabbed a small bundle with his forceps prosthetic and tossed it to Hiccup, who caught it. "Yer reflexes are bettah," he commented.

Hiccup shrugged lightly as he unwrapped the fabric, letting out a groan when he saw what it was. "You're my savior." He popped one of the berries in his mouth and began to eat as he moved over to the work table. Berries were a rarity in Berk, and Hiccup absolutely adored them. Johann must've come by, as Gobber only had them if the Trader made his visit to Berk. He wiped at his chin lightly to rid himself of juice after setting the pile of berries down, shucking off his vest.

Gobber had obviously seen the new additions to his belt, as he spoke up, "Wha's tha', lad?"

Hiccup looked over, taking another one of his berries from the pileas he pulled one of the blades from the sheath on his back, handing it over to Gobber for inspection. "It's one of the weapons I've been training myself in. I was hoping to work on engraving them," Hiccup explained, leaning back against the table.

Gobber turned the dagger over in his hand and tapped the metal against his stone tooth. "It's naht bad. But wha's wit' 'ese weird brown lines in i'?"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck and took his dagger back before Gobber decided he wanted to test it out on something other than his tooth. "Well, you remember how you let me have those scales in exchange for staying inside for two weeks?"

Gobber nodded lightly. Of course he remembered. After a raid, all the scales that were found on the ground were brought to Gobber to be disposed of. He'd happily handed some over to his apprentice. Of course, Vikings didn't do a thing unless they got something in return, so Hiccup had given up two weeks of going out during raids in exchange for some of them. "O' course, lad. Wha' abou' 'em?"

"Well, I did some tests and… melted down some of the scales and mixed them with the metal that I used to make my weapons." At Gobber's -ahem- _gobsmacked_ expression, Hiccup smiled lightly. "I did it when you were away with Dad on a search for the nest. It took me almost a week just to melt them down enough to be able to use them," he said with a nervous laugh, growing worried when Gobber still hadn't said anything.

Hiccup began to shift uncomfortably when Gobber finally broke the silence. "Ye mean t' tell me tha' ye used the scales t' strengthen ye own weapons?" Hiccup nodded slowly.

"I used Gronkle scales on my daggers and Terrible Terror scales on my bow. The Gronkle scales made the daggers more durable and sharp while the Terrible Terror scales made my bow more flexible. A-And they can all withstand large amounts of heat, Gobber."

Gobber blinked before letting out a bellowing laugh. "Lad, ye've done somet'in' tha' I didn' thin' was possible. I wanna hear all 'bout these weapons o' yers."

Hiccup smiled happily and began telling Gobber about them, happy that there was _someone_ he could talk to them about.

* * *

 **I'm going to respond to some Reviews now, so here we go.**

 **MM995: I replied to your Review via PM, but since you didn't respond, I will respond here. I am aware that full moons don't happen once a week, but rather, once a month. If you will go back and look, you will notice that I said, and I quote, "He'd started to time the raids. They happened at least once a week, and sometimes twice, and always on a full moon." I said that the raids happened at least once a week, and always on a full moon. I never said that the full moon happened once a week. You inferred that because you misread my sentence.**

 **CajunBear73: Yes and yes.**

 **First Reviewer- Guest: Yes.**

 **Ky111: I have planned out all of Hiccup's weapons in every way, including what they will be used for.**

 **Now that that's done, I'll see you all next week!**

 **Jessika~**


	3. When The Moon Is Full

**Hey guys. Sorry for not updating this story yesterday. My allergies were giving me hell and I couldn't go more than five seconds without needing a tissue. My brain probably turned to mush from how many times I sneezed. Anyway, when I woke this morning, the first thing I wanted to do was get a chapter out to you guys. So, here it is. And yes, this is officially the beginning of the movie.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

* * *

 **A How To Train Your Dragon Story**

 **A Different Beginning: The Rise of Hiccup**

 **Chapter 3: When The Moon Is Full**

* * *

Hiccup had inscribed each of his daggers with runic designs and had sworn Gobber to secrecy about the dragon scaled weaponry. The man had been reluctant, but understood that it was Hiccups discovery and that revealing it might let others in on what the lad had been doing.

The days had sped by, and before Hiccup realized it, three days had passed. It was then when he remembered that it was a full moon.

By the time he'd come to that realization, he hadn't been able to tell his father, as he'd been out on his evening rounds of Berk, where he'd make sure everything was going just as it was normally. Hiccup had paced in the living area of the house for a good hour before his eyes sparked and he facepalmed. Gobber! He could tell Gobber!

Hiccup bolted from his house, taking a look at the sky. It was an hour to midnight, but if he knew Gobber, the man was likely at the Mead Hall, getting drunk off his peg leg. It didn't take Hiccup long to arrive, and he found the elder Viking with ease. "Gobber!"

The blond looked over at Hiccup and started laughing until he noticed the seriousness on his face. "Wha's wrong, lad?"

"I need to talk to you." Gobber, seeing that Hiccup wouldn't go out and say it when there were Vikings nearby, who were likely listening in, he stood, his goblet attachment swishing with mead. Hiccup led the man out of the Hall and towards a secluded area.

"Alrigh' Hiccup. Wha's this abou'?"

"You know how I've been training?" At Gobber's raised brow and gesture to get on with it, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I've been training at night, and something I've noticed is that we always get raided after midnight, and we always get raided on a full moon."

Gobber narrowed his eyes as he took in what Hiccup was saying. Then he looked up. "Ye're sure abou' this?" Hiccup nodded eagerly. "Alrigh'. I'll go ge' Stoick an' tell him I feel tha' we're gonna ge' rai'ed tonigh'. If ye're wrong…"

"I know. It's my backside on the line." Gobber chuckled lightly and patted Hiccup on the shoulder, which almost sent the teen to the ground. "I'll be at the forge, getting the coals ready." Gobber nodded and the two went on their separate ways.

It wasn't more than an hour later that Hiccup heard it. He'd already removed himself of his vest and undershirt, and was working on getting the forge ready dressed in his normal tunic and apron, so when he heard it, he went on the alert.

Gobber entered seconds later, hobbling in at a fast pace. "Ye were righ'."

"Told you." Hiccup opened the windows that were above the counter, looking out in the distance. There were easily one hundred, maybe more. Each one had its own distinct shape and size, and was armed with fearsome claws, teeth, and able to spew dangerous flames or gasses. Hiccup let out a shuddering breath. "Dragons…"

The fearsome beasts were already infesting the village, searching for their food and fighting numerous Vikings. He heard his father shout from somewhere to raise the torches and knew that was his cue. Hiccup turned back to the bellows and put all his weight on them, forcing them to release air into the coals, making them burn brighter. It wasn't longer than a few seconds later when numerous Vikings appeared at the window, dropping their weapons and taking the extras that laid nearby, returning to battle.

Hiccup ran over to the pile and grasped them in his arms, happy he'd had the foresight to put the bracers he'd made on his forearms. He didn't feel like getting cut from one of these things tonight. He laid the weapons on the red hot coals before ducking when something shot a hole in the roof of the forge. He looked up, seeing the hole was a good three feet wide in diameter.

He shook the thought off and got to work, feeling the adrenaline beginning to seep in. As he returned hurriedly fixed weapons to the window, he picked up others that were damaged. Gobber was working just as fast as he was, if not faster due to him being able to lift twice as many weapons and still move at a pace that was necessary at the moment.

The fighting seemed to lull momentarily before there was a shout.

 ** _"NIGHT FURY!"_**

Hiccup looked up, eyes wide. He darted to the window and looked out, seeing several Vikings take cover seconds before a ball of purple fire impacted one of their catapult towers, sending the structure to the ground. His heart pounded in his ears. _'A Night Fury…'_ Something about the Night Fury had always captured Hiccup's attention. Maybe it was the fact that it was so fast, no one had ever seen it. Maybe it was the fact that it never missed its target. He wasn't really sure.

No matter the reason, it had been something of an icon for Hiccup since he'd first heard the ballistic screech of its approach.

He was shocked from his reverie when Gobber grabbed the scruff of his tunic and pulled him away from the window. "Ye're stayin' insi'e," he ordered, having believed that Hiccup was going to make a break for it.

Hiccup sighed as he was lowered back to the ground, slightly embarrassed that Gobber could lift him as if he weighed as much as a wee lamb. "I wasn't trying to leave." At Gobber's incredulous look, he sighed. "Honest! I was just trying to see the Night Fury."

"Lad, Vikings ha'e been tryin' t' see tha' thing fer cen'uries. I don' think ye're gonna see it jus' by lookin' ou' the window," Gobber replied, wiping his forehead with his forearm as he switched out his attachment for his hammer.

Hiccup nodded wistfully, turning back to the weapon he was supposed to be repairing. "I know. I just… can't help but try."

Gobber looked over at the seemingly dejected teen and rubbed at his eyes lightly. "Look, Hiccup, if you ever wan' t' ge' ou' there and figh' dragons, ye need t' learn t' focus. We both know ye can' handle an axe or a hammah, le' alone a bola. Ye need t' focus on where ye're strengths are. Li'e ye're inventions. Ye're good wit' 'ose," he finished, handing a sword off to the teen to be sharpened.

Hiccup sat down at the wheel and set it up, listening to the scraping sound and making sure to keep moving the weapon so it didn't crack. "I've got one of them over there. It's supposed to throw two bolas," Hiccup explained, nodding with his head towards the contraption. He'd originally intended for it to shoot just one, but when he realized that he liked the idea of wielding two swords at the same time, he got the idea to make the Mangler a double wielding bola launcher. It would increase the chance to hit the target. He continued to sharpen the weapon, expecting a response. When he got none, he looked up.

Gobber had approached his newest invention and was reaching out to touch it. His eyes widened. "Gobber, wait!"

It was too late. The man had bumped the device, which had sprung into action, sending the specially made bolas off through the hole in the roof, one slightly higher than the other. Both Vikings watched them go, one with a grimace and one with shock.

"I tried to tell you… I wasn't sure if the safety was on," Hiccup explained, standing with the sharpened blade and walking it to the window, where it was swiftly picked up by a passing Viking.

"Sorry, Lad. I'm sure ye can ma'e anotha' one. Ye're resourceful."

Hiccup smiled lightly and shook his head, understanding that that it had been a complete accident on Gobber's part. "It's alright. Let's get back to work." The man nodded and the two fell back into silence. As they worked, Hiccup couldn't help but wonder where the bolas had ended up.

 ******Line Breaker Here******

 _'So that's where it ended up…'_

Hiccup stood nervously in front of his father, who was absolutely furious. The large man held one of his bolas in his hand and was watching as a group of Nadders used a net to carry off some of their sheep. He winced lightly. This technically wasn't his fault…

"What did you do?" Hiccup looked up at his father, wincing lightly at the angered glare directed towards him.

"I-It wasn't my fault," he tried.

"WASN'T YOUR FAULT?" Hiccup jumped lightly and looked down. His father had once said to have popped a dragon's head clean off of it's shoulders when he was just a baby. With that in mind, Hiccup would be an idiot not to fear the man's anger.

"G-Gobber touched one of my inventions and-and accidentally set it off." Hiccup looked around. Where was that one legged Viking when he needed him? "I tried to stop him."

"So now it's Gobber's fault?"

"N-No- Dad, that's not what I meant-"

"Hiccup, winter is almost here, and those beasts just got off with half of our livestock because of your invention! I have an entire village to feed! What do you expect me to do?"

"The village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think, Dad?" Hiccup's instinctive reaction to being berated was to come up with a joke, but he knew it hadn't worked. Simply based on the anger still present on his fathers face, as well as the numerous insulted murmurs he heard, the sarcastic remark had gone right over their heads.

"This isn't a joke son! You need to stop with these inventions before we lose all of our food to those damned dragons!" Hiccup lowered his head and nodded lightly, sighing. Maybe he'd take a break from inventing. Yes, an inventor was what he was, but he hadn't meant for this to happen… "Gobber, take him back to the house. Make sure he gets there while I clean up this mess."

So Gobber had finally made an appearance. Whoop-de-doo.

Hiccup turned towards his house, feeling a hand on his shoulder that directed him forwards. He glanced up and noticed they were passing the other teens. _'Fantastic.'_

Ruffnut was laughing while her brother commented on what a great performance Hiccup had made.

Snotlout, the ever appreciating, said, "I have never seen anyone mess up something as bad as you did. That helped so much!"

Hiccup just sighed. He hadn't even done anything!

Fishlegs kept silent and when Hiccup met his gaze, the chief's son nodded in understanding. He knew why Fishlegs wasn't saying anything, and he didn't hold it against him.

Astrid was watching him go silently, ignoring Snotlout when he turned to see what she'd thought of his comment.

When Gobber passed by, he grabbed Tuffnut by the head and pushed him into Snotlout, sending them to the ground and out of his way (even though, in reality, they hadn't been in his way at all).

Apparently, one of his bolas had found his father- literally. It had slammed into his dad and had tied him up more securely than any bola had for a dragon. The other Vikings that were helping to pin down some Nadders had rushed over to help their chief. By the time any of them realized what had happened, the Nadders had escaped, and with their sheep too. Instead of being mad at the Vikings that had helped him from his bola predicament, and therefore took their attention off the Nadders, he was mad at the creator of the bola. Not surprising, if Hiccup was being completely honest.

Hiccup kept silent until they were away from the other Vikings, walking up to the hill to his house. "He never listens." Gobber kept silent, knowing that Hiccup was right. When Stoick was angered, his stubbornness increased ten-fold. "A-And when he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." Hiccup then began to do, what he believed, was a very good impression of his father, puffing up his chest and squaring his shoulders while making his voice much deeper. "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afrai' ye brough' me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with extra beefy arms- some nice guts an' glory on the side. This 'ere, this is a talkin' fishbone." He sighed softly.

"Now Hiccup, ye know i's naht like tha'. I's naht wha' ye look like. I's wha's insi'e tha' he can' stand." Hiccup stared at Gobber, who slowly realized what that sounded like. "Wai', tha's naht wha' I meant."

"It's fine, Gobber. I get it, okay? He doesn't like me being me. He'd rather I be someone like-like Snotlout." Hiccup shrugged lightly. "I guess it would help if I stopped hiding all _this_ ," he said, gesturing to himself.

"Tha' migh'. Listen, why don' ye go an' train? Tha'll ta'e yer mind off thin's will I try t' fix thin's with yer father." Hiccup nodded lightly, grateful that Gobber would help him out. As he entered the house to head through to the forest, he couldn't help but wonder where his other bola went.

He left the house moments later, trudging his way up towards the forest. He felt a bit hungry… Maybe he would get a fish from the lake and cook it. The wind above the cove would be enough to get rid of the smoke before it was noticed.

Hiccup headed into the forest and took the now familiar path to Raven's Point, pulling out his dagger. He ran his thumb over the engraving, smiling lightly. It had taken the most of the night for two days to carve his daggers properly. He'd had to heat them on the coals and then carve into them while they were still hot. It didn't make them much easier to work with, but it had definitely helped. After cooling them down and restoring them back to perfect working condition, he had eight daggers perfectly engraved and ready for use.

He twirled the dagger in his hand, using the time on his walk to try and relax. He just couldn't believe that had happened. He'd kept inside, out of the raid, and had provided the others with weapons, but he'd still managed to mess things up. Hiccup sighed. If only he'd put that thing back in his workroom the day before. Then none of this would've happened.

Hiccup felt the ground disappear from beneath his feet and yelped, his dagger going flying as he landed inside a trench. His head hit the ground and he saw stars, the world spinning for a moment before it righted itself. He slowly sat up and found his dagger, wrenching it from where it had landed, speared into the ground. Hiccup looked around.

"What…?" The large tree that marked the Cove being nearby had been snapped almost completely in two. The trench he had fell in went in the direction of his secret hideaway. He kneeled down, brushing his fingers against the dirt. It was still soft. This had happened recently. "What could've…" Hiccup lifted his gaze when he heard a low moan. Was someone here? "Hello?"

Hiccup slowly walked down the slope, taking note of the claw marks. Whoever it was had fought off a dragon, which would explain the trench. Maybe it had swooped them up from the raid and had left them there to die. That quickened Hiccups pace. "Is someone there?" He climbed up the last bit of the dirt incline and looked over.

He immediately ducked down, eyes wide and his chest heaving as he pressed himself against the dirt.

 _What… was that?_

Hiccup took some slow deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. It had to be a dragon. But what was it doing here? He bit down on his bottom lip, his entire body shaking as adrenaline flooded his veins. _'Get a grip. Calm down. It couldn't have seen you. If it had, you'd be dead already,'_ he told himself, although that last fact wasn't exactly comforting. He slowly relaxed enough to look over the ledge. It was pure black, and its wing (despite being held in place by some sort of rope) was easily longer than Hiccup was tall. He didn't recognize it from the Book of Dragons, which he'd read in his spare time (when he'd been looking up information on the Night Fury). He made a note to return the book to Gobber, since he'd borrowed it some time ago and had never given it back…

Hiccup tried to come up with some sort of explanation as he inspected it from afar. _'What black dragons are there?'_ He looked at the dragon once more and felt his heart stop. No way. Not possible. There was only one dragon that he knew of that Vikings _believed_ to be black, and it had never been seen before by anyone who'd lived to share the tale, so it was really unclear on what color it was.

He let out a shuddering breath and shook his head. If it was a Night Fury, it looked pretty well tied up. I-It wouldn't hurt anything for him to go in for a closer look… right?

He slowly climbed over the ledge and dropped the last few feet to the ground, bending his knees to brace himself against the impact with the ground. He carefully began working his way down and closer to the creature, keeping his movements slow and steady. He wasn't sure whether or not it could move at all. He made sure to have his dagger in hand, just in case. Hiccup swallowed thickly as he pressed himself back against the boulder that was closest to the dragon and slowly peeked around.

 _'Wait… that's my bola!'_ Hiccup sucked in a sharp breath. His invention had accidentally shot down a Night Fury. _His_ invention had accidentally _shot down_ a freakin' _Night Fury!_ Hiccup slowly approached the dragon. "Oh wow," he murmured, taking in its form now that he was close enough to see it. "Oh great Odins ghost…"

Upon closer inspection, Hiccup came to the realization that the creature seemed to be completely immobile, save for one of its front paws, which it could probably wiggle a bit if it tried. Hiccup took in its unique form, his eyes moving from its tail, slowly along the rest of its body. It was absolutely, pure black, just like he'd thought. When his eyes landed on the dragon's face, he almost fell over as he yelped.

It was most definitely alive, and staring at him with its only visible eye. It was large and bright green, almost venomous. Hiccup pointed his dagger at it, unable to stop the shaking of his hand. He paused when he heard it let out a low rumble. "I-I have to- oh Gods." He wasn't ready for this! He wasn't ready to fight a dragon, let alone kill one that was at his complete mercy! Hiccup shook his head. No! He had to! This was the only chance he'd get.

He turned away from the dragons gaze, only to pause when it let out what sounded like- like a soft pleading wail. Hiccup met the creature's gaze, feeling fear flood him. He should've killed it already! It let out a croon, staring at Hiccup desperately.

It…

Hiccup grit his teeth and lifted his dagger, closing his eyes, trying to block out all thoughts but the incessant _'kill the dragon_. He braced his arm, preparing to plunge the knife into the beast.

And then… he heard it give a last desperate moan. Hiccup slowly opened his eyes and met the creature's gaze.

It was afraid.

Of him.

Of Hiccup.

 _'This doesn't feel right,'_ he found himself thinking. _'Something about this feels wrong.'_

Hiccup stared at the dragon and tried to find the strength inside himself to kill the beast but he couldn't. He slowly lowered the knife, aware the dragon was now watching him with nothing short of confusion. "I can't do it," he murmured. He fell to his knees in front of the dragon and plunged his dagger into the ground, letting out a heavy sigh as he stared at the beast. "I'm sorry. I can't do it."

The dragon let out an inquisitive noise and would've tilted its head if it could. This Viking wasn't going to kill him? Why? Didn't all Vikings hate his kind? Why was this hatchling sparing him? He crooned lightly and wiggled, attempting to get out of the bindings, or at least show what he wanted.

Hiccup lifted his gaze to the dragon and looked at the ropes. He bit down on his bottom lip lightly. "I don't know if you can understand me, but… you have to promise not to attack me." It seemed to hesitate before it nodded. Hiccup tried not to let the fact that the dragon had understood him shock him too much as he ripped the dagger from the ground and moved closer to the dragon. "Try not to shift. I don't know if my dagger can actually cut you," he admitted. Despite having just been ready to plunge the weapon into the creature's scaly hide, it _was_ still a dragon, and daggers usually didn't have much effect on the larger dragons. He mostly learned how to wield them so he could protect himself from the smaller ones.

His knuckles brushed against the dragon's warm scales as he selected the first rope he would need to cut. He jumped when the dragon growled lightly and took note of the deadly teeth in its mouth. Hiccup gave him a nervous look before beginning to cut the ropes.

It watched him with a wary gaze and huffed, feeling the ropes slowly grow slack. True to its word, when the last of the ropes were cut, the dragon simply stood, shaking itself free.

Finally, he could move! He stretched out his limbs and worked his wings lightly before allowing them to fold up against his back. He looked towards the hatchling when he heard it let out a noise that sounded akin to fear.

Hiccup couldn't help but whimper in fear when he saw the mighty beast stand up, free to do as it pleased. Its sharp claws scraped against the ground, and Hiccup felt as if the dragon was seconds from plunging them into his body. The dragon turned towards him and sat down, seeming to inspect Hiccup with narrowed eyes. "I-I-I- uh." He'd expected to either be dead by now, or the dragon to have flown off. Hiccup had instinctively backed away, fear flooding his veins as he pressed himself back against the nearest boulder. "Are you hurt?"

The dragon crooned lightly and seemed to contemplate something before nodding.

Hiccup swallowed thickly and blinked, trying to process what was happening. "I…" He paused. "I have a place you can hide in," he finally decided on. What was he doing? "It's my cove. I use it for training at night."

It narrowed its eyes and seemed to inspect Hiccup, huffing.

"It's in that direction," Hiccup said, pointing in the direction with a single hand. "There's a lake there with some fish in it."

At the word 'fish' it bolted off, heading in the direction Hiccup pointed in. It seemed to take off, but flew into a rock wall before it sipped out of sight.

Hiccup heard the blood rushing in his ears. _'What did I just do?'_ He slowly stood and slipped his dagger into it's hidden sheath before deciding to head back to the house.

With that last thought on his mind, Hiccup wobbled on his legs and collapsed, fainting.

* * *

 **Like last time, down here, I'll reply to some reviews. If you happen to have any questions I can answer, go ahead and ask and I'll answer on the next chapter update.**

 **CajunBear73: I very much doubt it.**

 **Maerk and Ky111:** ** _EVERYONE LOOK HERE!_** **I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to say. Hiccup's weapons are based from my favorite game: Skyrim. They're the Nordic Weapons in game. If you want to know what they look like, just google 'Skyrim Nordic Dagger' or something along those lines and you'll find them. I'm so sorry for being forgetful.** _ **DID YOU LOOK? I'M NOT SURE ALL OF YOU DID. LOOK OVER HERE YOU NIMROD!**_

 **Okay. Now that that's out of the way...**

 **See ya!**


	4. The Viking Way

**Here's another chapter, and this time, I made sure to get it up on the morning of the day it was meant to be up! Just a word to the wise- this chapter shows much more of both Hiccup and Toothless acting differently than in the movie. As I let the story write itself, things sometimes progress faster than many people might expect. I suppose that's partially caused by my ADHD.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all like the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

* * *

 **A How To Train Your Dragon Story**

 **A Different Beginning: The Rise of Hiccup**

 **Chapter 4: The Viking Way**

* * *

When Hiccup had finally come to, he noticed that the sun had started its fall from the sky, working its way westward. He had, for a second, believed the entire experience had been a vivid hallucination and that he'd dreamed the whole thing, but that was quickly swept aside when he noticed the destroyed bola, claw marks, and the few black scales that were scattered here and there. Hiccup, out of his never-ending curiosity, had picked one up and had slipped it into the inside pocket of his vest that he kept his journal in. Then, Hiccup sheathed his dagger and headed back to the village.

As he walked, he thought. _'I just released a Night Fury. I gave it a place to stay. What have I done?'_ He'd betrayed his father. His people. He'd betrayed the way Vikings had lived for hundreds of years. What would everyone think if they ever found out? Nothing good, that was for sure.

 _'But…'_ Hiccup paused in his walking, lifting his gaze up towards the forest canopy. It just hadn't felt right, being feared. Being feared like that had felt… wrong, for reasons Hiccup couldn't identify.

Hiccup would just have to keep the incident a secret and hope no one found out. If they did, he'd likely either be exiled or put to the block, and that was the best case scenario. If someone found out he'd set free one of Viking's biggest enemies and had offered it a place to stay…

The troubled lad pushed open the door to his house and immediately noticed two fish cooking over the fire. One was as long as Hiccup's forearm, and the other was easily half that, if not less. Considering that his father usually ate in the Mead Hall… _'Dad wants to talk to me?'_ Hiccup looked around and, seeing that his father wasn't in the room, rushed upstairs to his bedroom. He unclipped the single dagger sheath from his hip and slipped it under his mattress. After a second, he placed the Night Fury scale under there too. You could never be too careful.

Hiccup headed back downstairs to see his father had arrived, and he'd taken a seat in his large chair. Hiccup walked over to the spit and selected his skewer, sitting down in his chair, which was practically dwarfed by his fathers'. As they began to eat in silence, Hiccups gaze shifted to the one chair that was never sat in. It had been there all his life, but his father hadn't allowed anyone to sit in it.

It had belonged to Hiccups' mother, or so he'd been told. His father hadn't spoken of the woman all that often, and as much as Hiccup yearned to learn about his mother, he kept silent. That conversation wouldn't lead anywhere good.

He looked up when his father cleared his throat. Wisely, the teen kept silent, waiting. Finally, the Chief spoke, "Gobber explained that the invention going off had been his fault." Hiccup had expected that. "He explained that you made it to catch dragons. So, after doing some thinking, I decided to enroll you in dragon training."

 _'WHAT?'_

"Now, I know Gobber said you weren't ready, but I believe you are. But, taking what he said into consideration, I wan' to know what you think." Now that Hiccup hadn't expected. His father had actually listened to Gobber's suggestion? The man was as stubborn as he himself was!

So Gobber had told his dad he wasn't ready- not because the one-legged meathead had believed he wasn't ready, but because he knew Hiccup didn't think he was. Hiccup bit down on his bottom lip lightly, thinking over his response. Hiccup didn't want to keep his father waiting too long, so he finally came up with a response. "I… I don't think I'm ready." Hiccup glanced up and quickly continued, "I-I want to be a true Viking as much as the anyone else does, but… I can't even hold a proper weapon." It was a harmless little lie. "I'd love to get out there and kill a dragon, but if I can't hold a weapon, how am I going to use it?"

"Hiccup, you've got more potential than you realize," Stoick said, shifting in his chair.

Hiccup shrugged lightly. "Maybe I do, but… I don't think I can kill dragons. Not as I am now."

He fell silent, watching his father as the man thought, tossing his fish bones into the flames before leaning back in his seat. "Gobber is going to be training new recruits in the coming weeks, while I'm away on a search for the nest." So that explained the large pack that sat near the door. "What would you rather do while I'm gone? You can't man the forge by yourself."

Hiccup wanted to say that he most definitely could, but knew it was a lost cause. Gobber would be training new recruits… Oh! "Why don't I be Gobber's assistant? I won't be fighting the dragons, but I'll still be learning about them, and helping Gobber in the ring will keep me out of trouble."

Stoick winced lightly. Hiccup had realized what he was trying to do faster than he'd anticipated. His entire reason behind placing the teen in dragon training was to keep him out of trouble. But, this idea had merit. If Hiccup did well, then perhaps he would gain more respect from the villagers, and his chances of dying would decrease dramatically.

Hiccup looked expectantly at his father, feeling himself calm when his father nodded. "It's settled then. Tomorrow, you'll meet Gobber at the Kill Ring and help him set up for the first class. At dawn." Stoick stood and grabbed his helmet, placing it on his head.

Hiccup followed him and stood, his uneaten fish still speared on the skewer. "You're leaving for the nest now?"

Stoick nodded. "I'll be back. Probably."

Hiccup slowly nodded and watched the man go. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. That had been a close one. He plopped back down in his chair and gazed at the fire, which crackled and flickered lightly. "I'd love to get out there and kill a dragon" he'd said. Hiccup sighed and lifted his gaze to the ceiling, leaning his head back against the wood. That was bold faced lie if he'd ever heard one. After his incident with that Night Fury, he was almost positive he wouldn't be able to kill a dragon even if his life depended on it.

He glanced at his fish for a moment before deciding that he wasn't hungry. Maybe he'd be hungry later. He could catch a fish at the cove and cook it after training. After all, the dragon was likely to be gone by then, and he needed to clear his mind.

* * *

Why had he thought the dragon would be gone? Was he an idiot?

 _'Yes, yes I am,'_ he finally decided, hoping the dragon couldn't hear his panicked breaths. Hiccup was crouching behind one of the largest boulders that edged the cove, peeking just around the side.

He needed to train and clear his mind but this-this stupid dragon hadn't left his cove! What was he supposed to do now? Fleeing could catch the dragons attention, and moving any closer was obviously not a wise option. What if it decided to kill him, since it had already returned its favor. After all, Hiccup had released the dragon and hadn't killed it. The creature had simply reimbursed him by not killing the young Viking when it had the chance. Hiccup was almost sure he would get a second chance.

Hiccup, in his musings, had lost sight of the dragon. _'Where could-?'_ He gasped when he felt it.

 ** _Wooh._**

Hiccup swallowed thickly, smelling the smoke on the creatures' breath. He slowly lifted his hands, showing he didn't have anything in his hands as he turned around.

 _'Its much more intimidating up close,'_ he couldn't help but think. The dragon had snuck up on Hiccup and was staring at him inquisitively, its nose just a foot from Hiccup's chest. "E-Easy," he said slowly. "I didn't know you'd still be here."

The scaled creature rolled his eyes. Where did the hatchling think he'd be? He wasn't going to head back to the queen. Even if he could, he wouldn't. That hard hit from the bola had not only ripped off one of his tail fins, but it had shocked him out of his hypnotized state and removed him from the queen's control. He huffed and sniffed the hatchling before letting out a snarl, baring his teeth.

Hiccup sucked in a sharp breath and slowly reached down, opening his vest. His single dagger sheath was clipped to his hip. At the dragons insistent snarl, Hiccup unclipped it and dropped it to the ground, kicking it over to the dragon. He didn't have much of a choice. If he kept the dagger, the dragon would kill him. If he kicked over the dagger, there was less of a chance of the creature killing him. At least… he hoped.

He stared at the hatchling as he leaned down, sniffing the belt. A curious noise left him. Why did he smell Boulder Dragons in the blade? Had the hatchling forced dragons inside the blade? He looked back up at Hiccup and decided after a moment that that was very unlikely. The hatchling looked as if he could barely wrestle a newborn Boulder Dragon, let alone the full grown dragons he smelled in the blade.

"I-I just came to train. I wanted to clear my head," Hiccup tried. The dragon seemed to examine him before opening its mouth and taking the sheath in its mouth. _'Wait, didn't it have teeth?'_ Hiccup furrowed his brows before yelping when the dragon nudged him towards the lake, moving along obediently.

This hatchling had saved him and had released him, so he wouldn't mind helping the hatchling in return. He'd leave him to do this 'training' after he'd fed the poor fleshbag. He sat the fleshbag at the lakes edge and tossed the dagger to the side before beginning to stalk along the lakeside, watching for fish.

Hiccup watched the dragon in silence, staring at it as it plunged its head into the lake. It was fishing. Why? It- _'Toothless?'_ \- growled with annoyance, flapping its wings as it emerged from the water. Was its injury keeping it from fishing properly? Hiccup hesitated before clearing his throat.

He looked over at the fleshbag, hearing the noise. He chittered lightly, wondering what the hatchling wanted.

"I can help," he said after a moment.

The Night Fury tilted its head, narrowing its eyes. How could the hatchling fish any better than he could? He seemed to sigh before sitting down, gesturing with a paw lightly as if he was telling Fleshbag to go and try. Fleshbag slowly stood, wary of the dragon- _'As he should be,'_ as he went over to the largest of the trees in the cove. He removed a bundle of waxed skin and opened it, emptying the contents. The dragon snarled when the scent of metal reached his nose and began growling lowly, warning Fleshbag as he bared his sharp teeth.

Fleshbag seemed to hesitate before slowly drawing a stick from a bag he'd placed on his shoulder and placing it in the weapon, which he drew up. The dragon was seconds from lunging when Hiccup released the stick, which impaled itself in a fish that had been swimming past the scaled beast.

What? The hatchling wasn't… Realization slowly dawned on the dragon. Fleshbag wasn't trying to attack. He was attempting to help him hunt. He watched as Fleshbag loosed more sticks into the lake, impaling several more fish before he'd stopped, where he lowered the weapons to the ground. This was a strange fleshbag.

Hiccup watched as Toothless (which was the name he'd given the dragon) slipped into the lake, collecting the floating fish in his maw. The Viking moved to sit where he'd been ordered by the dragon, waiting to do anything until the dragon had returned. When the dragon snarled at him, he'd noticed that it had teeth once more. Maybe they were retractable, so they didn't get shot out when it fired.

The dragon chirped lightly when Fleshbag hadn't noticed him sitting in front of him. The hatchling jumped backwards in surprise, making the Night Fury sigh. He leaned down and plucked on of the sticks from the fish, breaking it between his teeth. He spit it out from annoyance. Stupid twigs!

"T-Toothless? Why don't I do that?"

He looked up at Fleshbag. Who was 'toothless'? Considering that Fleshbag was still staring at him, perhaps the hatchling had decided to call him 'toothless'. 'Toothless' leaned back, watching as the hatchling picked up each fish and removed the sticks, placing the fish on one side and the sticks on the other.

'Toothless' watched the Viking as he removed the strange sticks. He'd never seen a hatchling like this before. Most fleshbags were either scared or wished to kill one of his kind on sight. He let out a huff, watching Fleshbag. _'What a strange fleshbag…'_

Hiccup placed the collection of fish in front of Toothless, knowing that if the dragon was having trouble hunting now, then it likely hadn't eaten since before the raid. Plus, if the dragon was full of fish, then it wouldn't be interested in eating Hiccup. That was good.

The Night Fury ate at his leisure. By the time he noticed that the hatchling hadn't gotten itself a fish, they were all deep in his stomachs. He tilted his head at Fleshbag. Why hadn't the hatchling gotten a fish for himself. _'I suppose I could feed him myself,'_ he thought, focusing before beginning to heave.

Hiccup backed away a bit when the dragon's body began lurching. It's eyes seemed to cross as it approached Hiccup. "Woah- woah, hey!" Toothless ignored him, continuing forward until Hiccup was pressed against a boulder. "I can get you more-" Something landed in his lap and he froze, feeling something warm and wet seeping through his pants. Only one thought crossed his mind.

 _'Did this dragon just vomit on me?'_

When the dragon had backed away a bit, watching Hiccup carefully, he finally looked down to identify whatever it was that was that was in his lap. It was a large fish's head, coated in dragon saliva. Hiccup felt bile rise in the back of his throat and swallowed it down, looking at Toothless in confusion.

 _'Eat, Fleshbag!'_ He was growing annoyed with the hatchling. He had willingly given up the best part of one of his fish (which was something only done between hatchling and caretaker), and Fleshbag was looking at him as if he was the crazy one. _'Eat,'_ he insisted. When Fleshbag did nothing, he visibly swallowed, hoping Fleshbag would get the point.

Hiccup did very much get the point, and felt himself go green around the gills. "T-Toothless, I can't eat this," he tried. Toothless, in return, growled lowly. Hiccup quickly tried to recover. "You don't understand. I- that is, Vikings, we can get sick if we eat fish raw."

The dragon tilted his head. Fleshbag would get sick if it ate the fish in its best state? Ridiculous. He snorted, purple flames shooting out his nose as he continued watching, staring straight at Fleshbag.

Hiccup looked down at the fish head and held it out to Toothless. "It shouldn't go to waste."

He tilted his head at Fleshbag and allowed his gaze to shift back to the fish head. He _was_ still hungry, and Fleshbag was offering it back. So long as it was sure. He slowly made with was closer, opening his mouth.

Hiccup stared at the creature as it approached, making sure not to extend his fingers in case-

 ** _CHOMP!_**

Toothless snapped up the fish head, his teeth extending seconds before. Hiccup jumped and retracted his hands, his heart pounding in his chest. _'Well. That confirms_ _ **that**_ _theory.'_ Hiccup gave Toothless one of his signature smiles, hoping to ease the tension he was feeling.

The dragon licked his chops, sitting down in front of Hiccup. What was that strange look on his hatchling's face? Was it attempting to snarl? If so, it was doing a poor job of it. Toothless tilted his head, examining the expression. Perhaps that was how fleshbags made peace. Yes! That had to be it! So, the dragon attempted to do the same, shifting his mouth into what he thought was a similar position. It felt very strange. Not uncomfortable, but simply strange.

Hiccup sucked in a sharp breath. It was mimicking him! He slowly lifted his hand, starting to wonder what the dragon's scales felt like. "Toothless, c-can I…?"

His green pupils constricted and Toothless instinctively snarled. No fleshbag could touch him unless he permitted it- not even his own hatchling! Toothless bared his teeth to Fleshbag before taking off, circling the cove and only looking back when he'd put distance between him and Fleshbag. His excellent eyesight allowed him to see the disappointed expression on Fleshbag's face. It was tinged with sadness as well. What had Fleshbag been hoping for?

Hiccup sighed and kneeled down near the lake, washing his hands in the water. It had been too much to hope for.

He considered training before coming to the realization that if Toothless didn't want Hiccup to have his dagger, let alone touch him, then he likely wouldn't be comfortable letting Hiccup train with his other daggers and his bow. But his bow was laying there on the ground, along with the quiver. He needed to put them up before they got damaged.

Toothless was busy cleaning his face, licking a paw and wiping at the scales of his head, when he heard a twig snap. He immediately located the source, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. Fleshbag was kneeling at his bag of sticks and was placing the sticks that had been shot at fish inside the bag. He tilted his head as Fleshbag placed the bag and the strange metal weapon inside the waxed skin. _'Is Fleshbag just putting it up,'_ he thought to himself as Fleshbag placed the strange package inside one of the large tree's roots. He then watched as Fleshbag sat down, leaning against the large boulder that he'd found the hatchling hiding behind earlier. _'Something is strange with this one…'_

Fleshbag seemed to sigh, urging Toothless to approach. He sat down near Fleshbag and let out a rumble, garnering Fleshbag's attention. _'Speak your mind,'_ he ordered, keeping his distance in case Fleshbag decided he wanted to try touching him again.

Hiccup jumped lightly in surprise as he turned his gaze to Toothless, who was staring at him expectantly. He huffed again, sending a waft of smoke scented breath towards Hiccup. It reminded the young Viking of the forge. It was comforting, in a way, as strange as that likely sounded.

He bit down on his bottom lip lightly. In his cove, he was relaxed, and his emotions were likely an open book for the intelligent creature. "I…"

Toothless murred lightly when Fleshbag stopped, attempting to urge the hatchling on.

Hiccup decided to start at the beginning. "I used to think that you- that dragons- were vicious and bloodthirsty creatures," he murmured, looking away. "A dragon took my mother when I was just a baby. I don't even remember her." Hiccup reached up and brushed his fingers against the scar on his chin, which was a pale white line at this point. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten it, but his father had always said it had happened when his mother was taken. "But now… I don't know. I mean, I can't. Not after what I've seen."

Toothless felt sadness at the statement. He knew what that was like- not knowing your parents. Then again, Fleshbag likely still had his father.

"My father shut me away inside houses to keep me safe, but… I kept going out. I thought that, maybe, if I was able to bring down a dragon, then my mother would be avenged. But all I did was cause trouble." Hiccup twirled a stick in his fingers, finding the action calming. "Then there was just this wall between us. No matter what I did, it just seemed to get thicker and thicker until…" Hiccup sighed, closing his eyes. He was rambling. "I went out to clear my head and found this place. I used it to train and hide away from a village that I know hates me."

Toothless tilted his head when Fleshbag stood, letting out a frustrated shout. "I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, heir to the tribe of Berk, and I couldn't bring myself to kill a dragon that was right in front of me! My father is the chief and I can't even do what's expected of me!" He murred lightly. Fleshbag was… He blinked in surprise. Fleshbag's father was the large redheaded Viking that had killed dozens upon dozens of his brethren? He couldn't be. He didn't act at all like that waste of flesh.

Hiccup scuffed his boot against the ground, sending a small rock flying until it impacted the nearby wall, bouncing off with a soft clink. "I… My village will hate me even more than they do now if they found out that I set you free." At this point, he was just rambling, getting his inner thoughts off his chest. After all, it was the middle of the night, he was (relatively) safe from eavesdroppers, and he was sure the dragon would've heard anyone creeping around nearby. "But I can't do it." Hiccup dropped himself back to the ground, picking up the stick he'd dropped and twirling it once more. "I can't pretend to be something I'm not," he murmured, leaning back against the boulder. "Gobber would be proud. I'm not going to pretend anymore. I refuse."

Toothless stared at Fleshb- _Hiccup_. This 'Hiccup' was as much of an outcast as he himself was. Rejected by his clan and ignored by his sire. He himself was likely the last of his kind, while the hatchling was likely the first of his kind to free a dragon instead of kill it. They were alike in more ways than the dragon had initially realized. His ear plates flickered when he heard Hiccup sigh.

"I always thought my mother had been killed by dragons. But now… I'm not so sure that what we're doing is right," he murmured, closing his eyes.

Toothless gazed at the distraught hatchling, deciding on something. After a moment, he stood, walking over to the fleshbag and picking him up by the scruff of his fur.

Hiccup let out a scared noise when he was picked up by the back of his vest like a kitten, carrying him over to the large tree the held his weapons. Toothless carried the small Viking inside and set him down, curling up around him after a moment. Hiccup sat there in shock, resisting the urge to run screaming.

Toothless, sensing _his_ hatchling's distress, began murring softly, nuzzling at Hiccup. _'Calm yourself, hatchling. There is nothing to fear,'_ he tried to explain, knowing that the human wouldn't understand Dragonese without extensive teaching.

Hiccup swallowed thickly before gasping when the dragon nuzzled up against his stomach, forcing the human's hands against its scaly head. Hiccup froze, expecting anger. When none came, he slowly began to scratch, and got what sounded like purrs in response. Was Toothless trying to make up for what the village had done to him? Was he… caring for Hiccup? Hiccup let out a shuddering breath and slowly laid down, curling into the large reptilian heater, feeling more relaxed than he had in a while.

When he somehow fell asleep, he knew something had changed.

The Viking way involved killing dragons, and Hiccup was almost positive he couldn't do that. So… was he really a Viking at all?

* * *

 **Ky111: Hiccup's sword will look the same as normal Nordic Swords, with some minor changes to be revealed later. Also, while Ebony Armor looks good, it is Heavy Armor. I would prefer that Hiccup has Light Armor. That means that he will not be wearing thick metal armor covering his body. I will determine what it will look like later, but it will not be Heavy Armor (armor made from thick layers of metal).**

 **Guest: I'm glad you enjoy my Hiccup. I based some of the things he does off of me. I remember when I was in High School and I tripped up a flight of stairs. I twirled around, grabbed the railing, and stopped myself from dropping about two inches before I hit the ground. Anyway, the point is, I'm glad you like my Hiccup. It makes me feel better about some of the things I do, since I based some of his actions on me.**


	5. Dragon Training

**Hey guys! Nice to see you all again. Did you get your hair cut? It looks great.**

 **So, this chapter will focus on the first day of Dragon Training and will give us another look at Hiccup's relationship with Toothless! I hope you all like it, because I do!**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

* * *

 **A How To Train Your Dragon Story**

 **A Different Beginning: The Rise of Hiccup**

 **Chapter 5: Dragon Training**

* * *

Hiccup had returned to the village the next morning before sunrise. Toothless had refused to let him leave until morning, so he'd awoken to inky blackness covering his head. When he'd reached out, he realized that it was in fact a large leathery wing, which had moved away at the touch. Toothless had protected Hiccup throughout the night, so in exchange for the Night Fury letting him leave, Hiccup promised to return with some fish from the village. The fisherman wouldn't take a count of the fish until after Dragon Training, so he'd have enough time to sneak in, grab a basket, and sneak out.

Hiccup hurried back to his house, entering through the back door. By the time he left through the front door a half hour later, he'd cleaned himself as best as he could, changed clothes, ate, and had clipped a single dagger to his hip, just in case he needed it- Snotlout had a tendency to push him aside, and he had a feeling that Snotlout's father, Spitelout, had suggested that Snotlout enroll in Dragon Training. That is, if Snotlout hadn't asked first.

Almost everyone knew that the most promising of the Viking teenagers, Astrid, would be enrolling in Dragon Training this year. The year before, Hiccup likely would've been happy to join Dragon Training to be closer to the blonde haired beauty. But now, Hiccup was happy that he'd just be on the sidelines with Gobber- not only because he wouldn't be forced to fight the dragons, but because he wouldn't have to show his full abilities until he was ready. Until he forged and practiced with his swords, he didn't want to risk garnering attention. If he got attention from his abilities, then he wouldn't be able to forge his swords without someone asking questions. He couldn't have that.

Hiccup crossed the long bridge that led to the Kill Ring, feeling as nervous as he was on the first day of his apprenticeship with Gobber. If he really thought about it, the Kill Ring was very similar to the Forge. Steel, wood, razor sharp items that could rip you in two, and insanely hot flames.

 _'I need to stop thinking about that,'_ Hiccup thought, shivering at the thought of being ripped into two pieces of a not-Viking.

He looked around when he entered the ring, letting out a shaky breath. Seeing it from down here was different than when he was up above with his father, watching the participants in the ring duke it out. It was a little overwhelming, if Hiccup was being honest. Down here in the ring, hundreds of Vikings had trained to kill and destroy dragons, and Hiccup knew he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not even if his life depended on it.

 _Clunk-thump! Clunk-thump!_

"Good. Yer here early."

Hiccup turned with a smile, seeing Gobber entering the ring. "I figured it would be best to get here before you did. Although, considering that I have both feet, it wasn't that difficult."

Gobber cracked a smile. Their strong friendship and many years working together had done wonders for Hiccup's confidence around the one legged Viking. When they'd met, Hiccup was afraid that speaking of the mans missing foot would anger him.

It didn't take long for that to change. In return, Gobber made fun of his thin frame and lack of height (as, despite being the son of Stoick the Vast, Hiccup was almost the shortest of the teens on the island, with Astrid only being a few inches shorter).

"Well, I suppose I shoul' let ye know wha' we're doin' t'day," Gobber said as he approached, hobbling along. "I'm gonna be introducin' the teens t' the Gronkle. Fer t'day, I jus' wan' ye t' stay near me. Watch 'em an' later ye can tell them wha' ye though' of their performances."

That stopped Hiccup short. "Wait, what? I-I can't just criticize them! They'll want to kill me!"

"If they do, ye can jus' challenge 'em. Besides, ye're doin' it on my orders. They can' exactly ge' mad at me." Gobber reached to his hip, where a pouch was tied. "I almos' forgot. I went huntin' yesterday with your da' before he lef'. I got ye some of tha' mint grass ye like."

Hiccup took the bag and opened it, removing some of the gathered leaves and tossing them into his mouth. They were so good. Of all the leaves he and Gobber chewed on while they worked in the forge, Mint Grass was his favorite. It just tasted so fresh and kept the edge of hunger away. "Thanks Gobber." He smiled at the man as he tied the sack to his hip.

Gobber smiled as he began setting up the shields, which seemed to be randomly tossed around the field. Gobber preferred leaves that weren't as minty, he knew that Mint Grass was Hiccup's favorite chewing leaves, and would provide him with a way to keep calm.

At least, until the teens arrived and the dragon was released.

As Hiccup chewed on the leaves, he examined the five heavily fortified cage doors. On the far left was a circular door, that had a single horizontal bar. It was braced with wood and metal. That door must've been holding back a strong dragon.

The one to the right of it was a door that had a triangular formation at the top of the cage. Hiccup would guess that that one held the Nadder, as that was the only dragon that (to his knowledge) they had that was that tall.

The next door was rather smaller than the Nadder's door and had a single vertical bar locking it. Each year, that door was the one that held the dragon that the final trainee would kill.

Hiccup thanked the gods that wouldn't be him.

The next door had two curved humps along the top and was being held shut by a single horizontal bar this time. Based on the double curve on the top edge, Hiccup guessed that would be the Zippleback.

And finally, the last door was circular. It had a single horizontal bar, high up, although for some reason it looked like the actual exit door was down very low to the ground, and very small. He wondered how that cage worked.

Hiccup paused in his chewing when he heard voices.

"…think the final dragon will be this year?"

"I don't care Fishlegs. I just know that _I'm_ going to be the one to kill it. It's my destiny."

"I can't believe you know such a big word!"

"Ah, shut up!"

"I want to get some claw marks on my arm to show how tough I am. Not that I need any proof," the male voice added hastily.

"Eh. It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

The group of teens had entered the ring by now, and Hiccup could stop himself as he spoke in a bored monotone. "No kidding right? Pain: love it." He straightened up from where he was leaning against a wall and walked towards the place Gobber had pointed out to him.

"What's he doing here?" Oh, his cousin was so very eloquent.

Gobber hobbled towards the farthest cage, which Hiccup had finally deduced to be the Terrible Terror's cage. "His father has pu' him here t' assess yer work. He's going t' keep track of how ye all do and tell his father upon his return," Gobber explained. Hiccup noted that Gobber didn't tell them just exactly what Hiccup might do while there, but he wasn't surprised. Information wasn't freely given, after all, especially to those who were too nosy to begin with. "Now tha' dumb questions are ou' of the way, we can begin." Snotlout turned red as he lined up with the other teens. "The recruit who does best in training will win the honor of killing their firs' dragon in fron' of the entire village."

The teens shifted. Now they knew the two most important things (at least for the next thirty seconds). One: Anything they do and what progress they make would get reported back to the chief, which could mean quite a lot. Two: One of them was going to kill their first dragon in this ring. Although they'd all been to the Kill Ring to see other Vikings gain their honor, it was more personal now. They each had a chance to impress the chief and gain a name for themselves.

That was something no one would give up easily.

Except maybe Snotlout when he was trying to flirt with Astrid.

"In these cages here are five of the dragons you will learn t' figh'. Only one will be saved for the final trainee." Gobber began walking along the front of the cages, gesturing to each as he passed. "The Terrible Terror." The cages began to rattle and shake, snarls heard from behind them, as if the dragons knew they were being talked about. Hiccup knew they probably did. "The Hideous Zippleback. The Monstrous Nightmare. The Deadly Nadder. And finally…" Gobber nodded at Hiccup, who was standing near the lock of the final cage. "The Gronkle."

Hiccup began to push the handle, vaguely aware of Fishlegs murmuring dragon facts under his breath as Snotlout shouted something about being taught first. "Nah," Hiccup said loudly, making sure he could be heard. "Gobber believes learning on the job."

The bracer lifted upwards and the doors slammed open. A large dragon flew out, its tiny hummingbird-like wings flapping desperately to keep it aloft. The trainees scattered with a shout. Due to the Gronkle's large size, it wasn't able to turn easily, and slammed into the rock wall directly across from it. It saw some rocks in front of its face and swallowed them back, happy for a snack before beginning to fly after the hatchlings that were invading her ring. She noticed one small toothpick of a hatchling and disregarded it, heading for the largest hatchling, who seemed to be wearing bear fur.

"Quick! What's the firs' thin' ye're goin' t' need," Gobber asked over the chaos.

"A doctor," Hiccup asked sarcastically, laughing when the blacksmith whacked him lightly over the head.

"Plus five speed," came Fishleg's desperate cry as he ran from the Gronkle.

Astrid shifted from foot to foot, watching the dragon confidently. "A shield!"

"Tha's righ'! Yer shield is yer mos' important piece of equipment! If ye must make a voice, go fer the shield!" Gobber and Hiccup watched as the teens went for shields. Hiccup groaned when he noticed the twins fighting over a shield that had a skull painted on it. It didn't even have a Boss on it, so Hiccup knew it was one of the older ones.

"Take that one- it's got a flower on it. Girls like flowers." Hiccup winced as Tuffnut was slammed over the head with the shield, growing more confused when Ruffnut started giving the shield back because 'oops, now this one has blood on it'.

 _'Really? There's a dragon out here and they're fighting over a shield!'_ Despite the situation, Hiccup found himself oddly calm. Perhaps it was Gobber next to him who- wait, where did Gobber go?

Those two hatchlings that were bickering over the circular wooden protector were getting annoying. She didn't really want to kill the hatchlings, so she launched one of her shots at the wooden protector, which shattered.

The twins spun from the force, collapsing to the ground. "Wha?"

"What happened," Tuffnut slurred.

"If ye get blasted, ye're dead! So, Ruff, Tuff, ye're out!" Gobber, seeing an opperitunity, spoke again. "How many shots does a Gronkle have?"

"Four," Snotlout called. What did it matter how many shots it had if all Snotlout had to do was kill it? He didn't need to know this stuff!

Fishlegs shook his head, lifting his hand into the air. "No, no, it's six!"

"Tha's right! Ye can each have one!"

"I really don't think my dad would approve of- ah!"

"Fishlegs out!"

The Gronkle had shot at his upraised arm, which luckily had the shield strapped to it. Fishlegs threw his hammer into the air as he ran off towards safety, which at the moment, was the crazy maniac who was training them.

"Those shields are good fer more than jus' protectin' ya! Make lots o' noise t' throw off a dragon's aim!"

Hiccup watched as the only two trainees left, Snotlout and Astrid, began banging their weapons against their shields. He noticed the Gronkle shaking its' head, so it must've been working.

What was that awful noise?! The only reason she hadn't tried to escape was because being kept here was safer than being with the Queen, but she would consider escape if that noise _didn't_ _ **stop!**_

The loud metallic clanging sent her spiraling off course and Hiccup yelped as he ran out of the way of the scaled beast. It slammed into the wall he'd just been standing in front of, and Hiccup ran away quickly. "Hiccup!"

"I'm fine," he called to Gobber breathlessly, ignoring the bruise he likely gained when he tripped over something. Based on the cackling, he had to guess it was Snotlout. He scurried towards an opposite wall before turning back to watch the chaos.

"So, uh, I moved into my parent's basement." Hiccup resisted the urge to rub his eyes. This wasn't the time for flirting Snotlout! "You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out." He hid his muffled snort when Astrid rolled away, leaving the clueless Snotlout open to a shot of the Gronkle, who slammed his shield with a fireball.

Astrid rolled to a stop near Hiccup. Despite being the only trainee left, Gobber had yet to rangle the Gronkle back into its cage. Hiccup assumed this was simply because it had three shots left, and he wanted to see what Astrid would do.

She fired a shot into the ground, using the shot to clear her head of cobwebs. Those dumb hatchlings just _had_ to make that sound! She grumbled as she located the blonde hatchling near the scrawny one she'd almost smashed. Did he want to attack her as well. She narrowed her eyes as she headed towards the pair.

"I guess you're the last one left," Hiccup said nervously, trying not to seem like a total idiot. Despite being thirty-two percent over his crush on Astrid, the other sixty-eight percent seemed to enjoy it when he was a bumbling idiot around the blonde haired beauty.

Astrid glanced at him before scoffing and rolling away- leaving Hiccup open.

He yelped and jerked to the side as a shot soared past where his shoulder had been, his training being the only thing that had kept him from losing a limp. When he noticed the Gronkle still coming after him, he sucked in a sharp breath and started doing the thing he was best at.

Hiccup ran as fast as he could, aware of the Gronkles wings growing ever closer. He skidded to a stop when he took a wrong turn and almost impacted the rack of shields and turned, eyes wide. He barely heard Gobber's frantic call as he pressed himself against the rock wall, eyes wide. "N-No! Wait," he tried, wondering it this dragon was like Toothless.

She ignored the hatchling's cries. Perhaps it would be for the best, killing the hatchling. Then she'd be left alone in her pen. At least there she didn't have to worry about annoying fleshbags. She opened her mouth and prepared her shot.

Hiccup saw the light building in the back of the Gronkle's throat and, heart hammering in his chest, made a quick apology to Toothless that he wouldn't be able to return to the cove with the dragon's much needed fish. _'I didn't think I'd live to be this old anyway,'_ he thought.

A flash of light and a piece of metal was lodged in the Gronkles' mouth. Hiccup instinctively ducked when he saw the dragon's head jerk to the side, covering his head with his arms. The sound of the fireball impacting the wall made his ears ring, and the adrenaline seemed to make the world slow.

He saw Gobber, pulling the Gronkle along by his hook. _'He… saved me,'_ Hiccup thought sluggishly, breathing heavily. He watched as Gobber tossed the Gronkle back in its' pen and closed the doors tightly.

And then Gobber was back, helping him up. "Ye okay lad?" His voice was distant and Hiccup rubbed his ear in an attempt to stop the ringing. Gobber noticed and put a hand on his shoulder, turning to the other teens. "Remember," he started as the teens began lining up again. "A dragon will always go fer the kill. If ye see a Viking in need, or withou' a weapon, ye'd best stay by their side." He pointedly looked at Astrid as he finished making his point, "Cuz if ye don', they coul' die. Class dismissed."

Gobber angled Hiccup towards the bridge, intent on taking him to Gothi to get that ear checked. Hiccup's grandmother was, after all, the best healer in Berk.

* * *

Hiccup staggered backwards, holding his nose, which was bleeding. He glared at the brute in front of him, letting out a sigh. He should've expected this. No. He had definitely expected this.

After getting rid of Gobber with the assurance that his hearing was coming back and he was fine, he'd hurried off in the direction of his house. Hiccup quickly ducked around buildings, making sure he'd gotten out of Gobber's line of sight before heading to the back of the Mead Hall. Given who he was, no one would pay him any mind. After all, doing so was similar to wishing bad luck on their family. Hiccup had so much bad luck, some- many- _most_ of the Vikings on Berk thought that the bad luck would latch onto them.

He'd just gotten around the back of the Mead Hall when a meaty hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him, a fist flying into his nose before he could gather himself.

So, that's where Hiccup was now, leaning against the wall of the Hall and holding his nose, which he noted was just bruised. The force of the hit had probably just made it bleed.

He lifted his gaze to Snotlout, who was sneering at him. "That's just a glimpse of what I'll do if you tell Uncle Stoick that I'm anything but awesome." He glared at him before stalking away, searching for Astrid.

Hiccup sighed and closed his eyes, clutching his nose and keeping his head bowed to the ground in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. Of course Snotlout would do this. It was so… _Snotlout_ to resort to dealing out pain in order to get what he wanted.

He felt the blood begin to slow and straightened, noting the blood on his hand and down the front of his tunic. Hiccup sighed and wiped his hand off on his vest. He could clean up later. He had more important things to worry about.

Hiccup entered the Mead Hall, keeping his head down just in case anyone made an appearance and decided to investigate his bloody nose. That would shave minutes off the small amount of time he had. He quickly located the largest pile of fish and wrinkled his nose- groaning quietly when it throbbed in protest. Hiccup swiped a pack and loaded it up with several fish and a few eels just in case Toothless enjoyed those. He carefully picked up the fish loaded pack and headed for the door, leaving the Mead Hall.

When he made it into the forest, he finally allowed himself to relax a bit. Now he didn't have to worry about anyone catching him. Now all he had to worry about were the wolves and whether or not they'd smell his fish. Good thing he knew where their hunting grounds were.

He made his way through the forest, holding onto the pack with both hands as he hurried along. A few minutes later, his foot scuffed the stone of the Cove and his hand pressed against the wall as he took a deep breath, allowing his tense muscles to relax. He set down the pack with a grunt after a few more steps, looking up.

Toothless was staring at him, his head tilted and ear plates low as he crooned. He moved closer and snuffed at his bloody hand, snorting before he looked back up at Hiccup.

"I didn't get into a fight, if that's what you're asking. Go ahead and eat. I can explain later." Hiccup pressed his hands against the side of the woven pack and tipped it, allowing the fish to spill out along the ground. He grimaced. "That's disgusting."

Toothless murred as he sniffed the fish, going through them with his nose. There were so many kinds of fish! His hatchling had chosen wel- wait. He took a deep inhale off the pile before screeching and jumping back, startling Hiccup. He snarled and flapped his wings, bringing his front legs off the ground as he backed away from the pile. The poisonous water snakes! His hatchling had brought poisonous water snakes! Didn't he know how dangerous they were if eaten?!

Hiccup held a hand to Toothless. "Easy boy," Hiccup murmured, looking at the pile of fish carefully. He began to work through the pile. He'd eaten the fish Hiccup had caught with ease the other day, so what could…? He located the single three eels he'd placed in the pack and lifted them out with one hand.

His hatchling was touching the water snakes! He screeched and extended his teeth, backing away. Toothless watched as his hatchling tossed the beasts away and began to calm, snorting. He hoped his hatchling would wash his paw.

"I don't like them much either," Hiccup said with a nervous laugh, watching as Toothless began to eat. He sighed and headed over to the pond, beginning to clean himself of blood. He wet his vest and gently cleaned his nose of blood before washing it in the pond with his tunic, laying the both of them over a boulder to dry.

As Hiccup sat down under the large tree that he'd slept under the night before, he felt a large warm body circle around him. He smiled and reached over, gently rubbing at Toothless's head. It seemed the dragon had decided he was ready to learn how Hiccup had gotten his injury.

"I had to start Dragon Training today," Hiccup started. At the dragon's look, Hiccup had a feeling he knew what that was. "I managed to convince my dad that I wasn't ready to fight dragons, so he had me become the teacher's assistant. I'll basically be helping Gobber set up the Ring, keep a track of the trainees, those sort of things."

Toothless huffed. He still didn't approve of his hatchling being so near other dragons, but at least this 'Gobber' would be there to protect him.

"So, during training today, the teens found out I would be telling my dad what happened during training, letting him know how they were doing. And… one of them didn't like that." Hiccup reached up to touch his nose, sighing at the light throbbing. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "He caught me by surprise and threatened to do worse if I told my dad he wasn't doing good in training."

Toothless watched his hatchling, sensing the sadness in him. His hatchling was capable of so much. Why did the other fleshbags had to treat him like vitleysa? He would never understand fleshbags. He nuzzled his hatchling lightly, attempting to make him happy, snorting against the sheep fur shirt his hatchling wore.

Hiccup smiled sadly, petting Toothless's large head gently. "You're so much different than them, and I'm not talking about you being a dragon. You're so understanding and you don't think I'm useless. Do you?" At the dragons insulted snort, Hiccup let out a soft laugh. "I didn't think so."

He bumped his nose against his hatchling's underbelly and snuffed. Wait. What was that? He snorted again and began sniffing.

"T-Toothless? What are you doing?" Hiccup watched Toothless as he searched along his hip. Huh? He reached down and grabbed the bag of Mint Grass from his hip, untying it and lifting it. "Is this what you're looking for?" Toothless warbled lightly as Hiccup opened the bag and pulled out some tufts of the grass, holding it out to the dragon.

Toothless took a big long inhale from the small handful and let out a coo, nuzzling into Hiccup's hand. It smelled so amazing!

Hiccup smiled lightly and began to rub the grass along Toothless's nose, laughing when Toothless warbled happily and nuzzled into this hand, attempting to get more of the grass. He felt the fondness for his dragon grow and continued, pulling out more grass periodically.

This was what Hiccup longed for. A friend. Someone he could relax with.

Who would've thought it would be a dragon?

* * *

 **For those of you who were wondering, the word** **'vitleysa' is Icelandic for 'crap'. I cursed in my other story, but I figured that Toothless wouldn't actually know curse words in English, so I gave him the Icelandic version. *shrugs* Cuz why not?**

 **If I edit a Chapter for mistakes (typos, punctuation, the like) it will be updated when I upload a new chapter.**

 **Review response time!**

 **RushAlias: Yes and No.**

 **yuyure: You really think so? That's so sweet. *blushes* I'm glad you like it.**

 **ChrisToothless: Updates will be every Thursday unless it's a special occasion, but I'm glad you like the story so much. I'm enjoying myself writing it.**

 **Until next time, favorite, follow, review, all the good stuff! Remember, I'll answer any questions you have unless I deem it as giving too much information. Don't be afraid to ask.**

 _ **Just a little tidbit for the next chapter: Hiccup starts forging his swords and works on a secret weapon that will not be revealed until later. Shh. Don't tell nobody.**_

 **Until next time! Jessika out~**


	6. A Work in Progress

**I... I have no words. Things were going well until I got towards the end of the chapter, where my suddenly disappeared and I was left with a shorter chapter than usual. I'm sorry for disappointing you in that regard. The next chapter, I will make sure it meets the usual length that we all know and love.**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

* * *

 **A How To Train Your Dragon Story**

 **A Different Beginning: The Rise of Hiccup**

 **Chapter 6: A Work in Progress**

* * *

"Hey Toothless?"

The dragon lifted his head to look over at his hatchling. After telling the story of that idiotic fleshbag who dared to hurt his hatchling (he'd get his teeth in that one one day), his hatchling had hunted for his own food in the pond and had left his Dragon Nip with him. He'd just finished coating himself in the scent when his hatchling called. He warbled to show he was listening.

"Could… Could I use some of your scales? The ones you shed," Hiccup asked, looking at Toothless. He had a single black scale in his hand, which he'd been inspecting carefully. The scale was thinner than the other ones he'd managed to get his hands on- much thinner. Due to their thinner state, he had a feeling he'd need more than if he used Gronkle scales, but he had a feeling it would be worth it. "I want to use them when I forge my sword. Like how I used Gronkle scales with my dagger." Hiccup pulled out the single dagger he kept on him now and plunged it in the dirt.

Toothless stood and walked over, sniffing the dagger before examining his hatchling. He wished to make a proper weapon with his scales? For some reason, the dragon felt rather pleased at the idea of his hatchling making his main weapon with his scales. He let out a chittering noise as he nodded. His scales were scattering the ground of the cove from his impact with the walls on the first day when he was trying to escape, so he was sure his hatchling would have plenty.

Hiccup let out a little laugh and hopped up, hurrying over to the tree root and pulling out a large leather sack. He usually used it for fruits he found on the trails, but it would do. "Alright. Would you help me gather them?" He smiled when Toothless began stalking towards the nearest scales, and hurried to do the same, tossing them in the pouch as quickly as he could. If he wanted to do this right, he would need as much time as he could get to work in the forge. Considering that there would be no Dragon Training the next day so that trainees could get some training in, he'd guess that he had a rough 36 hours. Would that be enough time?

Hiccup turned when he felt warm air suddenly rush against his back, making his wool shirt flutter, and held out the sack. He momentarily wondered where the scales were when Toothless opened his mouth and unloaded the saliva slick scaled. The dragon chittered and retracted his teeth, one more popping out of his mouth. It'd gotten wedged between his teeth. Hiccup lifted the bag, which was now dripping with dragon saliva and gave Toothless his signature smile.

What was that strange look his hatchling was giving him. He narrowed his eyes as he inspected it before retracting his teeth and attempting to work his mouth into the same shape.

Hiccup's eyes widened a fraction as he watched Toothless attempt to smile. His ear plates twitched when he finished and he looked at Hiccup expectantly. Hiccup smiled brightly and set down the bag, taking Toothless's head in his hands. "You amaze me, bud." Toothless warbled in response and butted his head against Hiccup's. Hiccup stayed there for a moment before pulling away and picking up the sack again. "Thanks for the scales."

Toothless followed Hiccup as he walked around, clothing himself in his tunic and vest before going to retrieve his Mint Leaves. He kneeled down and was about to put them into a pile so he could take them when something caught his eye. A long stick was laying nearby, one end pointing at his leaves, and the other end at the eels. He furrowed his brows as an idea formed in his head. It would be tricky….

Hiccup straightened, tying the small bag of what he now deemed as Dragon Nip to his hip before heading to the eels. He picked them up and placed them in the sack with the scales. "You don't mind do you?" He chuckled at Toothless's unamused snort, grabbing his dagger on the way to the entrance of the cove. He picked up the fish pack on the way and turned to Toothless. "I'll be back as soon as I can. It'll take a bit to forge my swords." Toothless warbled and nuzzled into Hiccup's cheek, making the boy break into a smile. "I'll bring extra fish next time to make up for it."

With the promise of extra fish, Hiccup left the Cove.

* * *

Hiccup looked over the equipment he'd gathered, tying his leather apron to his form. He'd gathered what little titanium they had for his extra project. They didn't use titanium often, so he'd be able to replace it before they needed it. He'd start on the extra project after he got the work on his swords underway.

The first thing he need to do was get the scales into the heat. He placed the scales inside the melting bucket and lowered it into the coals. He threw his weight onto the bellows several times until they coals were burning orange from the heat. He'd have to keep on that.

He set up the mold for later now. He walked over to the mold he'd made for his swords, running his fingertips over the unused insides. Hiccup closed the molds after checking to make sure there was nothing inside them, and after putting on his gloves, began to tighten the mold. There were several different knobs that he had to turn- he'd put extra on his special mold as he didn't want anything leaking out. Each drop of the molten liquor was precious, and he couldn't risk a single drop of it escaping. He turned the mold upright on its hold, checking it over before pouring water inside the molds. That would not only cool the inside of the mold, but it would tell Hiccup if there were any leaks.

Hiccup opened and closed his fists when he finished, popping his knuckles lightly. Without the gloves, he was sure he'd have blisters on his hands by the end of the day. He turned back to the forge and pulled out the metal forceps, rooting around in the bucket of scales. Just as he thought, the scales would take a few hours to melt, unlike the steel he'd be using for the base of the sword, which would melt within an hour.

With that note, Hiccup picked up the bucket that held the titanium and threw his weight on the bellows again, forcing them down and pushing air into the coals once more. He wiped the back of his hand along his forehead. After checking over everything, he headed over to the nearby table, where a small tub of Toothless's saliva sat.

The took off his glove and swirled a finger around in the liquid, examining it. It was thick and sticky. Perhaps it could help…

He wiped off his hand before taking out one of the eels he'd brought with him, twirling his dagger between his fingers before getting to work on skinning it. He had a side project to work on.

After another hour, he'd placed the titanium in the mold he'd gotten out for it. He'd had to make a few adjustments to the mold itself, but he thought it would work. Then, as he was checking the dragon scales, a shock when through his system.

"I forgot about the dinner!"

He shed his apron and gloves and splashing water on his face to clean himself of sweat, drying himself off before taking off. He was so late, so very late.

When Gobber had been leading him towards his grandmother's hut, Gobber had mentioned about how all the teens had been told to come to the Mead Hall for dinner for an analysis of how training went. He'd told Hiccup to come along so he could make some points.

And Hiccup had forgotten.

He headed towards his house and grabbed the thick book Gobber had asked him to bring before heading out off the house and towards the Mead Hall. Hiccup jumped over a sheep that happened to be in his way, making the woman leading it shout in surprise. "Sorry!" He turned back towards his destination and yelped, ducking under the log that was being carried by two different Viking men. His hand trailed the ground as he bent backwards, his feet sliding against the ground as he stared at the log barely passing over his head. He could've sworn that the log bumped his hair. "Sorry Mr. Ingerman," he called as he straightened, leaving three stunned Vikings behind as he raced to the Mead Hall.

Gobber grumbled under his breath as he paced along the length of the table the teens were sitting at. They were conversing and eating, ignoring the fact that they were there by force. _'Where is that boy,'_ Gobber thought in annoyance. He looked towards the door, having thought he saw Hiccup. Nope. Just a man carrying a whole cooked chicken.

 ** _CRASH!_**

The teens and Gobber looked to the door in surprise as Hiccup barreled in, running into the Viking man carrying the plate. He yelped as he rolled and jumped to his feet, catching the plate. He looked upwards and seemed to shift on the balls of his feet before extending the plate suddenly, catching the chicken and balancing the new weight. He let out a relieved sigh and handed the man his food before turning to Gobber. "Sorry I'm late."

Silence. Tuffnut dropped his cup.

Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. "What?"

"How… How did you…" Tuffnut looked between the shocked Viking man and Hiccup, opening and closing his mouth when he couldn't find the words.

Hiccup looked back at the man with the whole chicken and cleared his throat as he looked at Gobber. "Shouldn't we start with the analysis," he asked, trying desperately to change the topic.

The man gave Hiccup one last look before nodding and turning back to the teens. "In the ring t'day, ye all performed t' yer best." The teens looked at each other and smiled, thinking that was good. "Yer best is a'solutely terrible." They looked shocked. Um. What? "Hiccup. Explain how each o' them messed up t'day."

Hiccup picked up a small wooden plate that had a chicken leg on it. "Well," he started, grabbing a nearby cup of water that had been set out on the table and taking a sip. "I don't think they did _terrible_ , but if it had been a real battle, I think they'd all be dead, with the exception of Astrid. Tuffnut and Ruffnut took their attention from the dragon to argue over a sword that had a skull on it. A shield with a skull painted on it won't save your life any more than a shield with a flower on it will." He took a bite from his chicken, pausing. "And fighting over it definitely won't keep you alive."

Tuffnut and Ruffnut looked at each other before huffing and turning to their food. They began hitting each other with the bones not two seconds later.

"Knowing facts about dragons is great, but you let it distract you Fishlegs," Hiccup said, looking at his sort-of-friend. "You lifted your shield into the air and the Gronkle shot at it. In a real battle, chances are that you would've lost your arm."

Fishlegs nodded, taking the information to heart.

"Flirting on the battlefield is not smart either." He glared at Snotlout, aware that the teen was matching his gaze. Except Hiccup had a black eye. "Flirting could get you and the person you're flirting with killed."

Snotlout grunted, taking an angry bite from his large fish.

He looked at the final person, growing hesitant now. Out of all the teens, he still sought her approval. He couldn't help it. "As for Astrid…" Hiccup paused. Perhaps being honest would be best. "Well, you kept your attention on the dragon, distracted it well, and kept your shield in the proper place, but you abandoned a Viking without a weapon."

"Doin' so pu' naht only Hiccup's life in dangah, bu' i' put yer life in dangah too." Astrid looked shocked at this and looked to Gobber, confused. "If Stoick heard ye abandoned a Viking in need, naht t' mention his own son…" Gobber trailed off as he hobbled towards Hiccup, the point getting across with ease. Astrid wouldn't be on Berk long after Stoick found out. "But, I won' tell 'im. Aftah all, ye didn' know. But don' expect t' ge' off tha' easily nex' time." He stopped in front of Hiccup and took the book, walking over to the table. "This is the dragon manual," Gobber stated as he dropped the book on the table with a resounding thump. "Everythin' we know abou' every dragon we know of. Study up. Hiccup an' I have work t' discuss."

Hiccup looked at Gobber in surprise before realizing that he probably wanted to ask about the black eye. He finished off his chicken leg and downed the rest of his water before following, leaving the teens behind. "I'm guessing you want to know about this," he asked, gesturing to his bruised nose and eye.

"Tha' an' why ye were late."

Hiccup hesitated before nodding. "Sorry about that. I finally started on my swords. And Snotlout wanted to make sure that I wouldn't tell dad anything bad about him," he stated simply, rubbing the bridge of his nose gently.

Gobber sighed softly and shook his head. "Tha' boy… I'll have a talk wit' his father when they get back from the search," he stated firmly. "He know his father wouldn' approve o' this."

Hiccup sighed and nodded, knowing that it was nose use to argue.

"Now, tell me all 'bout those swords o' yers." Gobber smiled lightly. "Wha' scales did ye finally deci'e on fer 'em?"

Hiccup had expected this and had come up with an explanation while he was working. "Well… I don't know what they are, actually."

"Wha'?" Hiccup removed a single black scale from the inside of his vest and handed it over. "Wha's this?"

"I… I thnk it's a Night Fury scale."

"WHA'?!"

Hiccup shushed him, looking around as he took the scale back. "I know how it sounds, but look at it. It's really thin and I haven't seen a single scale like it. You've been letting me take a look at the scales before you got rid of them, so you know I would've recognized it if it belonged to any of our usual dragons."

Gobber looked at the scale Hiccup held between his fingers. "A Nigh' Fury… I can' believe ye got enough scales from a Nigh' Fury t' make yer swords from 'em."

Hiccup let out a little breathless laugh. "Yeah. Me too."

* * *

Hiccup picked up the forceps and plunged them into the bucket of scales, stirring it around. "Perfect," he murmured, wiping at his forehead. The scales had finally started to break down. It'd been several hours since he and Gobber had parted ways, and Hiccup had almost finished his side project when he had decided to check on the scales. By this point, the sun had started to rise again.

Dragon scales, no matter how much heat was applied, couldn't be completely melted. They just started to soften and loosen up, allowing them to be mixed with metal. Gronkle scales were easily ten times thicker than Night Fury scales, which was why they'd taken so long to break down. It was definitely worth it though. His daggers likely wouldn't chip unless he sharpened them too long on one side.

Hiccup picked up the steel with the tongs and carefully lowered the pieces of ingot into the bucket. He repeated the action several times before going to the bellows and throwing his weight on it (which was more taxing than making the swords, Hiccup was sure). _'I've gotta move fast when that's melted,'_ he thought to himself, catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead. Dragon scales not only 'melt' slowly, but they cool extremely fast. After the steel had melted down, Hiccup would have to stir the concoction before carefully (but quickly) pouring them into the molds. The quick cooling was part of the reason for why the weapons gained the streaks of color. That was also due to the mixing with the metal, which allowed the scales to finally break up into small pieces.

Hiccup had realized some time during his weapon forging that scales never truly melted down. They just softened and broke up into small pieces when heated enough. That was one of the reasons why dragons were fireproof- no dragon could breath a fire that hot.

 _'Except maybe Toothless,'_ Hiccup thought as he sat down at his work station, looking at his newest project. After cleaning it up and making sure it was smoothed down, he'd coated the length of it in a thin layer Toothless's saliva and wrapped the it in leather strips. Upon drying a few hours later, he realized that he couldn't remove the strips even if he wanted to. Hiccup made a note to clean off anything he got Toothless's saliva on as fast as he could.

He placed the unique weapon on the table with a sigh, turning back to the concoction in the coals. He plunged the tongs into it carefully, stirring it around as his mind raced.

 ******Line Breaker Here******

Hiccup splashed water on his face, taking a deep breath. He'd just transferred the scaled liquor to the molds and had set them to cool. Now, he decided, was the perfect time for a break. He needed to eat before setting to wait for a few hours, so after cleaning himself up a bit, he headed back to the house for some bread.

Eating in the Mead Hall would garner unwanted attention, so he simply grabbed some bread and ate while on the way to his Grandmother's.

His grandmother was the village elder, Gothi. She was the mother of his mother, and had helped raise him after his mother had died. Well, more like she'd raised him. His father had distanced himself from Hiccup after the dragons took his mother.

She didn't talk much, but when she did, she was very soft spoken and kind in a way the other Vikings weren't. Despite that kindness though, she wasn't against giving someone a hard whack with her cane if she felt they deserved it.

Hiccup rubbed the back of his lightly, remembering the last time she'd hit him. It had been several month before, the day before he'd changed his ways. He'd been talking about how he would be the first to kill a Night Fury and that everyone on Berk would have to respect him then. She'd given him a whack on the head and simply stated that he needed to stop trying so hard to prove to the others that he was a dragon-killer.

He sighed. She seemed to know more about who he was than he did. He started to wonder just how much she knew about his future.

* * *

 **For those of you who were wondering, I got the Icelandic Translation from the last chapter through Google Translate. I know it's not totally reliable, but it's useful when you need a translation fast.**

 **Review response time.**

 **Jokul Frosti The Winter Child: The swords have Night Fury scales, and the bow has Terrible Terror scales.**

 **saberstorm: He'd probably faint.**

 **RushAlias: I'm still thinking about that.**

 **Maerk: Sorry. I'd decided on Toothless losing his tailfin before I even got to that part in the story. And as you know, Hiccup has a tendency to be an oblivious twit.**

 **For those of you who are interested and in that fandom, I recently created a new Community dedicated to LadyNoir. Take a look at it if you're in that fandom.**

 **Until next time.**

 **Jessika.**


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